Aptos Times: March 15, 2021

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March 15, 2021 • Vol 30 No. 6

Home Churches In Cuba

In these Covid pandemic times, it is good to remember that we are a community that cares about people locally, nationally, and internationally.

Full Story page 5

County Enters Red COVID Tier Full Story page 7

Grand Reopening Coming For La Selva Beach Library

The Santa Cruz Public Libraries announce the grand reopening of the remodeled La Selva Beach Branch Library with a virtual celebration via Zoom at 10 a.m. Saturday March 20.

Supervisor Zach Friend will emcee. All are invited

and registration is required at santacruzpl.libcal.com/ event/7578985 Three days later, La Selva Beach Branch Library will open for “grab & go” services at 1 p.m. Tues., March 23 at 316 Estrella Ave. ... continues on page 4

Hunger Fighters Make a Difference

This year’s Hunger Fighters of the Year are Brenda Villafana and her friends and family, who volunteered more than 500 hours to keep the Freedom School food distribution site open, and Mary Wells, lead volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul’s Our Lady Star of the Sea pantry.

Full Story page 2

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Hunger Fighters Make a Difference

Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County Honors Community’s COVID-Year Support

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his year’s Hunger Fighters of the Year are Brenda Villafana and her friends and family, who volunteered more than 500 hours to keep the Freedom School food distribution site open, and Mary Wells, lead volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul’s Our Lady Star of the Sea pantry.

Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County honored them March 4 at its first ever virtual Annual Awards via Zoom and celebrated the 2020 Holiday Food and Fund Drive, which raised more than 5.5 million meals, the most ever, in a year when the COVID pandemic left so many struggling economically, doubling the numbers of

Brenda Villafana (second from right) and her team of friends and family.

Thank you Santa Cruz County!

Holiday Food & Fund Drive 2020: 5.5 million meals provided!

Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County is so grateful to all the Hunger Heroes and Hunger Fighters who participated in the 2020 Holiday Food & Fund Drive to make it the most successful drive in history, and you did it during one of the most challenging years’ our community has ever faced. Heroes are among us!

people seeking food for themselves and their families.

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive will succeed Megan Martinelli as co-chair with County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios for the 2021 Holiday Food & Fund Drive, which kicks off in November.

Second Harvest Food Bank, founded in 1972, saw unprecedented need in 2020, supplying 150 local agencies and programs to feed 85,000 people — one of every three county residents.

Villafana had a team of seven, her daughter, son, grandchild and three friends — Maria Elena, Angel, Pablo, Jose, Angelina and Rosa. The five adults are farm workers, all Watsonville residents for 15-plus years and loyal volunteers.

Typically, the Freedom School food distribution site has 12 volunteers but due to the pandemic, only seven could help. This team did not want the food distribution to stop, so they kept it going, while social distancing and taking precautions to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Brenda Villafana and team include a mom, her daughter, son, grandchild and three community friends. This amazing group of people have been volunteering for over five years and have volunteered over 500 hours to the Freedom School food distribtution site.

Mary Wells Mary Wells is the lead pantry volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul pantry run by parishioners of Our Lady Star of the Sea. She has been volunteering for roughly 20 years.

Complete list of awardees at www.thefoodbank.org/awards2021

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“Hunger Fighters” page 9

Special Awards Community Spirit Award

CEO Award

Olivia Strusis Bregante Malia Nacht Finn & June Grillos

UCSC - Nathan McCall

President’s Award

Hunger Hero Community Spirit Award

Heavy Hitters Award

County of Santa Cruz Employees

Main Street Elementary School

Twin Lakes Church Driscoll’s

Special Promotions Award

Hunger Fighters of the Year

SUP Shack KPIG

Brenda Villafana & Team Mary Wells

Coordinator of the Year

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jillian Ritter Sarah Marshall

KSBW under the Leadership of Joseph W. Heston

Above and Beyond Bay Federal Credit Union

Trudie Ransom, SUP Shack Special Promotions Award

Lap Award Canepa Motorsports

Tech Feeds Hope Leadership of Susan Lovegren

Civic Engagement Award City of Santa Cruz City of Capitola County of Santa Cruz

Champion Sponsors

Santa Cruz Community Credit Union

Pajaro Valley United Soccer Girl Scout Troup 15015

Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County

Presenting Sponsor

Chairman’s Corporate Award

Neighborhood Award

Helping Hands Award

Brenda Villafana & Team

Mary Wells Wells volunteered for 20 years at St. Vincent de Paul pantry, which feeds 70 to 100 people a week. She arranges the weekly food order, organizes the pantry and helps others with joy, dignity and love.

She greets people who come in and listens to their stories.

Bruce Canepa, Canepa Motorsports Lap Award

Ambassador Sponsors Alexis Party Rentals, Boardwalk, CalFresh, GoodTimes, iHeart Media, KAZU, KSCO, KPIG, Looker, Santa Cruz County Bank, Deluxe Foods of Aptos, KSBW, Nordic Naturals, Palace Business Solutions, PVUSD, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, The Pajaronian, County of Santa Cruz Human Services Dept., Times Publishing Group

No. 6

Volume 30

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Table of Contents

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Cover

Grand Reopening Coming For La Selva Beach Library

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Community News Hunger Fighters Make a Difference: Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County Honors Community’s COVID-Year Support Health Trust Backs Emeril Garden, Kitchen at Starlight School Home Churches In Cuba: After Decades of Atheism, Places to Worship Sprout Up, By Edita McQuary County Enters Red COVID Tier, By Jondi Gumz Rent Aid Window Open • March 26 Coyote Workshop • New Singleuse Disposable Deadline • Proposition 19 Affects Property Transfers to Children • PVUSD Announces New Staff • SJSU Scholarship Deadline • Water Rights Webinar: March 18 • Girl Scout Cookie Sale Extended County Park Friends Launches 30-Day Membership Drive • Cabrillo College Renaming Exploration Events CASA Welcomes New Advocates for Children in Foster Care • Santa Cruz Gets Housing Grant Progress on Safety Issues at Nisene Marks State Park, By Jondi Gumz Kirby School: Community Involvement in Action PVHS Students Get Their Athletic Field Staff of Life: Betting on Watsonville, By Jondi Gumz Cultural Nonprofits Eligible for COVID Aid, By Jondi Gumz

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Letter to the Editor Our Community Reads: Thank You!

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California News 11 More Women on Corporate Boards 14 Settled: For-Profit Fundraisers Made 172 Million Robo-calls

National News 16 American Rescue Plan with $1.9T in Aid Is Law

Monthly Horoscope • Page 26 – Three Spring Festivals & Saving Forces, By Risa D’Angeles Community Calendar • Arts & Entertainment – Pages 28, 29

Featured Columnists 21 A Beachy Day in the Fifties (if You Can Find Parking), Photo Essay by Carolyn Swift 23 Survey: 39% of Parents Want To Keep Distance Learning: Aptos Has Fewer Covid Cases So Why Not Open Schools in Aptos First?, Q&A With Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, PVUSD Superintendent 24 Vaccination or No Vaccination: Let’s Spread Tolerance, By Joyce Vissell 25 Takeout Restaurant Alcohol Equals Easy Access for Minors, By Christina Borbely and Suzette Rochelle-DiVirgilio 27 Eliminate ‘Selling’ & Focus On Helping Customers, By Ron Kustek 30 Cost to Build Accessory Dwelling Unit? Online Toolkit Can Help, By Zach Friend, Supervisor, Second District 31 Many Reasons for Rotating Vegetables, By Tony Tomeo

SCCAS Featured Pet • Page 31 – Nathan the Cat

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COVER STORY Patrice Edwards Jondi Gumz

publisher editor

contributing writers Edita McQuary, Jondi Gumz, Risa D’Angeles, Carolyn Swift, Michelle Rodriguez, Joyce Vissell, Christina Borbely, Suzette Rochelle-DiVirgilio, Ron Kustek, Zach Friend, Tony Tomeo layout Michael Oppenheimer, Jim Johnson graphic artists Michael Oppenheimer, Jim Johnson photography Michael Oppenheimer, Jim Johnson, Brad King website Michael Oppenheimer, Camisa Composti production coordinator Camisa Composti media consultants Don Beaumont, Teri Huckobey, Brooke Valentine office coordinator Cathe Race distribution Bill Pooley, James Hudson

A newly built patio and pergola to accommodate programs outdoors at La Selva Beach branch library.

“Grand Reopening” from page 1 La Selva Beach is the second branch the Santa Cruz Public Library system to complete construction with 2016 Measure S funds.

The $1 million-plus project included: Replacing single-pane windows and doors, a new heating and ventilation system, ADA-compliant restroom for those with disabilities, all new furniture and fixtures, and a new front entrance.

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New windows, new heating and ventilation, and an ADA-compliant restroom were part of the $1 millionplus remodel at La Selva Beach branch library.

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The branch retains its original footprint of 2,200 square feet but thanks to a generous matching grant of $100,000 from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the library patio was upgraded with furniture and a pergola to expand outdoor programming.

The Friends of the La Selva Beach Branch Library raised additional funds for interior folding glass partitions to reduce noise and make the space usable for different types of programs for adults and children.

The library tradition began in 1950 with members of La Selva Beach Woman’s Club circulating books from a closet in the Clubhouse.

By 1960 the makeshift library had issued cards to 199 adults and 108 “juveniles.”

In 1968, an arrangement was made for a “real” library to open at its current location with the building to be owned by the La Selva Beach Recreation District and leased to the library. After Proposition 13 the library was briefly closed, but then reopened due to the dedication of volunteers who were the sole staffers for the next eight years.

In 1996, a 600-square foot addition provided for a children’s area and a staff room. With dedicated staff and a full program calendar for children and adults, the library has been a hub for gathering and learning in the community of 2,700.

Patrons eagerly anticipate a return to their beautifully refurbished branch when it opens on March 23 with new hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1-6 p.m. and Saturday noon-5 p.m. n ••• Cover Photo: Books on shelves and a giant TV screen for new programs await La Selva Beach library patrons when the newly furbished branch opens March 23. • Photo credit Sarah Harbison

COMMUNITY NEWS

Health Trust Backs Emeril Garden, Kitchen at Starlight School A foundation created by renowned chef Emeril Lagasse is backing a $2 million project to open a “Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen” at Pajaro Valley’s Starlight Elementary School in 2022, with the first major local gift $150,000 from the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley.

“The significance of Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen in our community will be profound,” predicted Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, Pajaro Valley Unified superintendent of schools. “This expansive new garden and teaching kitchen facility will bring very meaningful new curriculum and hands-on experiences to our students.

The impacts will extend far beyond the classroom.”

Pajaro Valley Unified School District received the $500,000 five-year grant from the Emeril Lagasse Foundation in January 2020 and is now designing and planning to build a permanent fully-equipped

1,543-square-foot kitchen, a 5,600-squarefoot organic garden, and a 2,300-square-foot community gathering area at the Starlight campus.

Starlight Elementary — the fourth school in the nation to be chosen — has nearly 600 students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade, 60 percent learning English and many of them children of farmworkers whose labors send produce nationwide. The school opened in

1980 on the site of a former drive-in theater.

“As longtime partners of PVUSD, we are proud to support this new program that directly aligns with our vision for a healthy community,” said DeAndre James, Health Trust executive director.

“Our young people deserve access to the highest level of health and wellness and this project teaches them where their food comes from, how to cultivate it, and how to prepare it, along with essential life skills

that will help them be healthier now and in the future.”

PVUSD has earmarked $500,000 in developer fees for the Starlight project and plans to raise $850,000 more from the community toward construction, which will involve installing a new modular classroom as the kitchen site.

The curriculum for Emeril’s Culinary Garden and Teaching Kitchen was written

by Life Lab, integrating health, wellness, and nutrition-based experiential learning with core curriculum subjects such as science and math.

Lessons are designed to teach teamwork, critical thinking, planning, and problem-solving, skills to be successful in school, careers and in life. n ••• Starlight, led by Principal Jaclynne Medina, has an educational equity focus, a long-standing garden education program and strong family and community involvement.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Home Churches In Cuba

After Decades of Atheism, Places to Worship Sprout Up

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By Edita McQuary

n these Covid pandemic times, it is good to remember that we are a community that cares about people locally, nationally, and internationally. Several local organizations such as Santa Cruz al Salvador; Limitless Horizons Ixil, Guatemala; and Guy Routley’s Cowboy Church visits to China have been connecting with and helping people for a number of years.

Before last year’s lockdown, Pastor Kevin Stottrup and Elder Ted Parsons of Aromas Bible Church went on a mission trip to Cuba. An organization called CUPA (“Cuidado Pastoral” i.e., Helping Pastors or Pastoral Care), started by a Cuban national, Pastor Alexis Hernandez, in collaboration with U.S. pastors and missionaries, Eric and Carol Smith, issued the invitation.

The Smiths had been traveling to Cuba for several years to provide training and resources for Cuban pastors in Pastor Hernandez’ leadership conferences. His

Pastor Alexis, his wife Judy, Raul, Elder Ted and Pastor Kevin in front of their tour taxi — a 1950 Chevy Deluxe Styleline convertible, driven by Figaro — in Havana, Cuba. vision to create an organization that pastors in Cuba could look to “for support,

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encouragement and accountability” was presented to the Smiths and they agreed to serve as representatives in the U.S. CUPA, actively working with pastors for over five years, provides Christian training material, humanitarian aid to relieve human suffering, as well as financial aid. They have expanded into 10 of Cuba’s 15 provinces and represent approximately 160 churches.

Eric said, “To our knowledge, there are no American missionaries living as permanent residents in Cuba. Entrance to Cuba by visiting missionaries requires a mandatory religious visa that is good for

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Pastor Kevin getting a Cubano haircut.

two months. There is no open evangelism permitted, only in churches is the gospel shared or by personal invitation to one’s home.”

According to the Smiths, there are now hundreds of “Home Churches” throughout Cuba. The average church ranges from 30 to 100 people. As a result of the lessening of religious restrictions, the Protestant population of Cuba is now estimated at 11%.

Officially, Cuba has been an atheist state for most of the Castro era. In 1962, Fidel Castro’s government seized and shut down more than 400 Catholic churches and schools.

In 1991, however, the Communist Party lifted its prohibition and in 1992 the constitution was amended to characterize the state as “secular” instead of “atheist.”

The current leader, Raul Castro, after a recent visit with Pope Francis, has stated he has considered returning to the Catholic Church. As his brother, Fidel, grew older, he spent more time with Russian Orthodox bishops.

Because Raul Castro is less authoritarian, some people speculate that religious freedom will continue to grow.

Pastor Kevin and Elder Ted had an adventure just getting through Cuban customs. Their bags were scanned, searched, re-scanned for money and “contraband.”

“Cuba Churches” page 8

COMMUNITY NEWS

County Enters Red COVID Tier

By Jondi Gumz

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ith the COVID-19 case rate plummeting, Santa Cruz County entered the less restrictive Red Tier on March 10, allowing restaurants, gyms and fitness centers, movie theaters and museums to open indoors for the first time since mid-November and retail stores and shopping center to increase capacity to 50 percent.

“The lines at Trader Joe’s should be shorter,” said Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel at a virtual press conference Thursday.

The new allowable capacity is 25 percent for theaters, museums, restaurants and places of worship and 10 percent for gyms and fitness centers.

Newel lifted her prohibition on visits at nursing homes and assisted living centers, allowing family members to see loved ones after restrictions aiming to prevent the contagious coronavirus from spreading kept them apart for a year.

As of March 13, the state began allowing wineries and breweries without meals to open outdoors with a 90-minute time limit and 8 p.m. close.

Starting April 1, the state is allowing outdoor live events at 20 percent capacity and amusement parks at 15 percent capacity.

As of June 1, the state will allow overnight sleep-away camps.

CineLux Capitola has already opened.

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History announced plans to open to members first. Capitola Beach Co. announced plans to begin offering surf lesson and rentals on April 1. Santa Cruz Shakespeare announced plans for a small, safe outdoor live season in July and August. The folks at Arts Council Santa Cruz County announced plans to resume the Open Studios event in October.

Pajaro Valley Unified School District, which will begin hybrid instruction with in-person lessons for kindergarten April 5, announced that in-person instruction will resume earlier than planned, the week of April 12 for students in grades 2-6 and high school seniors. Students in grades 6-8 and 9-11 can return the week of April 19. Families can opt to continue distance learning if they wish.

“It’s very exciting for parents to get their children back to school,” Newel said, noting that all K-12 educators in the county have had an opportunity to receive their first dose of vaccine.

She urged everyone to get a vaccine once they are eligible and in the meantime,

Dr. Andrew Smythe, of Dignity Health Medical–Dominican, vaccinates a community member at the Harbor High School vaccination site. wear masks and practice social distancing in public so as to protect unvaccinated elders and those who are medically vulnerable.

193 Have Died OVID-19 has claimed the lives of 55,000 Californians and 193 Santa Cruz County residents, with 55 percent of those local deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Locally, 80 percent of those who died were age 70 or older and 77 percent had other health conditions.

A year after the pandemic began, case rates have plummeted across the state, and with 11 million vaccine does administered, 20 counties are in the Red Tier.

Santa Cruz County’s adjusted COVID case rate is 5.3 per day per 100,000, below the rate of 7 required for the Red Tier.

Newel said she anticipates moving to the Orange Tier by March 31.

The Orange Tier, which requires an adjusted case rate of 3.9 per day per 100,000, allows 25 percent capacity at gyms, dance studios, bowling alleys and climbing walls, and 50 percent at movie theaters, museums, restaurant and places of worship.

Newel said the state plans to change the metric for moving into less restrictive tiers, a change that will be “to our advantage.”

Surge Unlikely large surge of cases forecasted for March and April in connection with worrisome virus variants is unlikely,

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she said, noting the B117 variant, which spreads more easily, hasn’t shown up yet.

On Friday, the county reported only seven people hospitalized with COVID, including two in intensive care, fewer than 300 active cases, and more than 119,000 negative test results.

Santa Cruz County ranks sixth in the state for vaccinations per capita, according to Mimi Hall, director of the county Health Services Agency.

Dr. David Ghilarducci, deputy health officer, said 111,000 doses have been given to county residents, 83 percent to those 75 and older, and 76 percent to those 65 and older.

It’s much lower for younger people, and that’s because the state requires 70 percent of doses go to people age 65 and up who are at greater risk of dying, 30 percent to people in riskier jobs – and 10

percent set aside for educational and child care workers.

Hall said she’s found slots reserved for people 65 and up “are not filling up” with Thursday an example with “a couple hundred slots” that had to be filled.

The county has moved from Phase 1A, healthcare workers and long-term care residents to Phase 1B, where 50,000 people working in agriculture, food service, education, child care, emergency services are eligible, but not all of them have been vaccinated.

State officials had emphasized a system based on age, so Newel was surprised when state officials said new job categories will be eligible for vaccines.

These include transit workers, airport staff, custodians, janitors and housekeepers, disaster service workers, utility workers responding to disasters. Also, individuals who are medically high risk, incarcerated, homeless, staff serving these populations and volunteers with MyTurn. ca.gov, the new app where people can register to find out when they can get a vaccine.

Supplies Limited Being in a category that is newly vaccine eligible does not mean the vaccine is easy to get because supplies remain limited.

The OptumServe vaccine in Watsonville is only providing second doses in March due to limited supplies, but plans to restart first does in April, Ghilarducci said.

As of March 15, people age 16 to 64 with a certifiable risky health condition may be able to get a vaccination from their health care provider.

Again, Ghilarducci expects demand to exceed supply.

“COVID Update” page 15

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR Our Community Reads: Thank You! e would like to send a heartfelt “Thank You” to all of the many participants who “attended” events during our 2021 season. It was only our fourth year, and what a strange one it was. Luckily, we had an incredible group of highly esteemed presenters who, from their offices and living rooms via Zoom gave it their all!

Thanks to Senator Laird and his stellar panel, to David Reichard of CSU Monterey Bay faculty, to the powerful personal story of local resident Dinah Davis. We all grew

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and learned and felt the emotion of what has transpired over the years relative to HIV/AIDS. Supervisor Zach Friend gave us some levity with our annual Trivia Night, and allowed readers of The Great Believers a place to share their knowledge of the book and win some prizes in the process!

We are grateful to our many branch book discussion group leaders, from Aptos, Capitola, Felton and La Selva Beach for bringing people together to dive deep into the themes of Rebecca Makkai’s powerful novel, and also to

Eric & Carol Smith with the taxi the group toured Havana in. the eastern part of the island. We visited a school that the host church had started in “For a while, Ted and I thought they Pinar del Rio. We also heard about many would not let us into the country,” said humanitarian projects, for examples proPastor Kevin. “Just as we thought we’d viding items such as water filters, etc., cleared the hurdles, there was one more requiring only a small amount of money at the exit, but thankfully Eric and Carol to fund. Given the poverty level we saw, it helped us navigate this inconvenience.” was heartening to meet Cuban pastors with He continued: “Ted and I attended the a heart to serve the needy. We heard that conference in Pinar del Rio, a province in people live on as little as $30 per month.

Pastors are paid about $6 per month and usually have to have another way of earning a living.

“In this very poor country, people are humble and, of necessity, very innovative. Some sell fruit from a cart pulled by a bicycle. Our taxi driver drove a government-owned a pink 1950s Chevy Deluxe Styleline convertible. He also had a small rustic hair salon where I got a Cuban haircut.”

The team saw a lot of buildings with Riding to Havana airport in a less-scrupulous Russion Muskovi taxi.

“Cuba Churches” from page 6

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volunteer April Zilber for leading a very fun and creative hands-on art event.

All of the effort made by everyone whether participating in or leading events, enrich this dream of ours to bring people together, to create community, and to learn and grow through the experience of reading a single book together.

Thank you all!

We also thank Santa Cruz Public Libraries for lending their support to Our Community Reads. Special thanks to Rowan Rammer and Sarah Jones for

dirty, unpainted stucco even in downtown Havana. Some of the balconies had collapsed and were not repaired. They were careful to follow the regulations set forth by the government.

The government must be notified exactly where visitors are staying and that hotel/hostel must be in possession of all visitors’ passports during the entire stay.

They were also instructed to avoid topics of conversation that might be considered revolutionary or oppositional to the government.

The Smiths related that on one trip they tried to bring in a wireless microphone sound system for the church. This was confiscated at the airport for fear of it being used for spying or illegally transmitting information out of the country.

“We had a warm and wonderful reception from our ministry hosts and hostel operators,” Pastor Kevin said. “We felt no reason to be fearful on the streets of Pinar del Rio where our conference took place or even in Havana after dark.”

“Taxi drivers and people in Havana were very friendly. They really like American dollars so they are very helpful and friendly, even though we spoke very little Spanish,” said Eric.

How People Can Help ell phone recharge program: Most pastors struggle just to provide food and household necessities for their families so cell phone service is unattainable without support from U.S. donors.

The cell phone recharge program started as an opportunity to get financial support indirectly to pastors in Cuba.

Online phone recharge companies offer double and triple recharge promotional rates twice a month.

Stateside CUPA volunteer staff has a list of CUPA pastors’ phone numbers.

Depending on the number of donations received, the pastors’ phones are recharged online during the promotion week.

Once received in Cuba, each pastor passes a portion of the recharge to two other pastors, giving each pastor a month’s worth of cell phone service. A $25 donation, a standard price for recharging one phone

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coordinating events and providing tech support.

See you next year in the 2022 Season of Our Community Reads. n — Aptos Chapter of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Library: Jim Bourne, Bobbie Edgin, Pat Emard, Kris Franceschi, Melanie Freitas, Gale Farthing, Barbara Gaebe, Ofelia García, Teri Handzel, Coni Hendry, Sandy Laue, Diana Mejia, Eileen Miller, Ginny Morris, Lynn McNussen, Debby Peronto, Jodi Pratt, Susan Schenck, Denise Ward, and Tricia Wynne

Figaro the driver (named for being a singer). He works 7 days a week driving a government-owned taxi. He also runs a back-alley barbershop to make ends meet and doesn’t get to see his children much. that qualifies for a special promotion, will enable three pastors to have one month’s phone service.

Given the very limited transportation and the lack of money for cell phone service, the CUPA program is essential for a pastor to do the work of the ministry.

Thank you to Pastor Kevin Stottrup of Aromas Bible Church, for sharing this information, telephone 831-726-2850.

Pay it forward cell phone recharge donations: https://www. paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_ id=X43TFGHEVPK9L&source=url.

An alternate link going into the General Cuba Benevolence Fund: https:// w w w. p a y p a l . c o m / d o n a t e / ? h o s t e d _ button_id=RNZXJN8EKSCKC. n ••• Cover Photo: St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral dominates this public square, founded in 1628 in Havana. Castro’s government shut down more than 400 Catholic churches in 1962. The visitors get a ride to the Havana airport in a Russian made Mukovi, with an unsanctioned, non-government taxi driver.

“Hunger Fighters” from page 2 When a community member she befriended became temporarily homeless, then in a car accident and in a walker and living on very little, she spent many hours driving her friend to buy cat food, put rides on a bus pass, and get groceries.

A special Lifetime Achievement Award went to KSBW-TV under Joseph W. Heston, president and general manager who retired in 2020. KSBW hosted Share Your Holiday, which raised millions for Second Harvest and The Salvation Army. After shelter in place, KSBW organized Project Community: A Day of Help and Hope, raising $525,000 for tri-county food banks, with $236,000 for Santa Cruz County.

Community Spirit Awards Olivia Strusis Bregante, inspired by her mom Melissa, a Sutter Health nurse, started a class project to raise 1,000 meals for families who lost their jobs because of COVID-19 and raised 2,748 meals.

Sisters Finnly & Juniper Grillos organized their first virtual fundraising campaign with a video, raising 3,069 meals.

Malia Nacht learned how to sew during the pandemic, sewing masks to keep friends and relatives safe and donating money she made. She raised 2,088 meals.

Main Street Elementary School office manager Jennifer Del Carlo organized teachers, students and families to focus on virtual fundraising, generating 8,979 meals, a school record.

Neighborhood Awards Under Gina Castaneda’s leadership, PV United Soccer joined the first worldwide Soccer United Against Hunger campaign and 15 local youth teams raised 19,772 meals.

Girl Scout Troop 15015, a small troop of girls, led a lemonade stand, donated from cookie sales, raising 4,149 meals.

Special Promotions Sup Shack owner Trudie Ransom organized the SUP for Food fundraiser, dressing up like Santa and his elves, cruising the harbor on a standup paddle or kayak, raising 8,021 meals.

Three days before Christmas, a generous donor offered to match donations by KPIG listeners who mentioned KPIG when they gave. KPIG staff loved the idea. A listener in Marin heard the “hog call” and gave another match — resulting in 72,000 meals.

Coordinators of The Year Jillian Ritter, a county analyst, was the coordinator for county government employees, a challenge since many worked at home. But she believed they would do their best. Departments held virtual gift basket raffles, silent online auctions, and got a match, surpassed their goal.

Sarah Marshall, coordinator at Rio Del Mar Elementary School, engaged the whole community, designing their very own flyers and raising 40,592 meals.

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Finn and June Grillos

• Helping Hands Award: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County and executive director Susan True, for leadership through the pandemic and the fires, facilitating collaboration, and assisting with surveys, funding and matches.

• Above & Beyond Award: Bay Federal Credit Union raised the most ever, 127,599 meals, thanks to competition, prizes and pride at branches, among co-workers and supervisors with customers joining in and a generous donor matching donations.

• Lap Award: Canepa Motors owner Bruce Canepa pledged donations to Second Harvest Food Bank for every collector car sold during the pandemic, and donated 240,000 meals.

• Tech Feeds Hope: Susan Lovegren, who joined the food bank board in July, launched the Tech Feeds Hope Initiative to engage tech companies and tech professionals to fight hunger in Santa Cruz County, raising 371,148 meals.

Civic Engagement Awards Christina Alberti, office supervisor in City of Santa Cruz Public Works, and her co-chair replaced cupcake sales with selling an online cookbook with recipes from city employees. City Manager Martin Bernal and his department heads supported competitions such as one between police and fire, won by fire. In all, city employees raised 69,235 meals.

Capitola City Clerk Chloe Woodmansee coordinated efforts by her 66 co-workers and with a match, they donated 8,301 meals.

Santa Cruz County analysts Jillian Ritter and Amy Miyakusu accepted the county award. They emphasized the importance of everyone contributing a little, and collectively that would amount to a lot. They surpassed their goal and a generous donor matched up to $50,000, raising 477,832 meals.

• CEO Award: Nathan McCall, manager of UC Santa Cruz human resources

Malia Nacht and family

business information services, knew many neighbors and students faced food insecurity. The Banana Slugs raised 175,000 meals.

• Chairman’s Corporate Award: Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, led by president and CEO Beth Carr, launched “Return the Favor” to help nonprofits and donated 64,924 meals.

• Presidents Trophy: County of Santa Cruz employees’ goal was $50,000 and they raised $67,000, more than 477,000 meals, despite COVID restrictions, staff furloughs and the CZU wild-

fires. A matching donation of $50,000 helped.

Heavy Weight Champions Twin Lakes Church members and staff made a massive effort — lemonade stands, home-prepared meals, outreach to friends and family, raising more than 2 million meals — a historic number.

When COVID hit, Driscoll’s was one of the first to call the food bank and ask, “What do you need?” At the time, a forklift was needed. Soon a forklift showed up, followed by sponsorships, and a large donation: More than 425,000 meals. n

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www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 9

COMMUNITY BRIEFS Rent Aid Window Open tarting March 15, tenants and landlords in Santa Cruz County can apply for federal COVID-19 aid for back rent from April1, 2020, through March 31, 2021 at HousingIsKey.com Funds are limited so early applications are advised.

The program pays up to 80 percent of the back rent owed to the landlord, who must agree to forgive the rest.

If the landlord does not participate, the program pays far less, 25 percent of back rent.

••• March 26 Coyote Workshop he first workshop offered by the California Fish and Game Commission and California Department of Fish and Wildlife will offer an online workshop on coyotes 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 26, to reduce conflicts between humans and coyotes. To register, see https://fgc. ca.gov/meetings/2021.

Participants will join via Zoom and are asked to register in advance and take an online survey.

State officials say the principal reasons wildlife, including coyotes, ventures into populated areas is to search for food, water or shelter. Human-coyote interactions are on the rise due to increased urbanization, increased abundance of food and water sources, and access to attractants such as pet food, human food, pets and small livestock. Interactions can lead to bites and loss of pets.

The first workshop is focused on the science and research related to coyotes in the urban environment as well as the current laws, regulations and jurisdictional roles that create a foundation for communities to reduce human-coyote interactions.

••• New Single-use Disposable Deadline n Tuesday, the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously extended the compliance date for the 2020 update to the Environmentally Acceptable Food Packaging and Products Ordinance for one year until March 8, 2022.

The ordinance aims to reduce the amount of disposable food service ware used by food facilities in the City of Santa Cruz, and the new deadline was adopted due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on local businesses.

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The ordinance: • Requires a 25-cent fee on hot and cold drinks sold in disposable cups.

• Expands the “Upon Request” mandate for straws, utensils, condiments, etc., to all ordering platforms — including online and third party delivery apps like Door Dash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.

• Encourage businesses to offer a 25-cent credit to customers who bring in their own cup and/or container.

Consumers are advised to carry your own reusable straw and utensils, and bring your own container for leftovers when eating out.

Starting March 8, 2022, disposable food service ware must be free of intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS-PFOS) and certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute or other third-party certifier.

To read the ordinance see www. cityofsantacruz.com/to-go-ware. For questions, ask Waste Reduction Manager Leslie O’Malley at LOMalley@cityofsantacruz. com or (831) 420-5593.

••• Proposition 19 Affects Property Transfers to Children roposition 19, the Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families, and Victims of Wildfire or Natural Disasters Act, approved by voters in November, took effect Feb. 16.

This means significant property tax law changes for families transferring real property between parents and children, or between grandparents and grandchildren if the parents are deceased.

Proposition 19 allows for a parent’s primary residence to be transferred without a property tax increase only if their child keeps the home as their primary residence.

Starting April 1, Proposition 19 caps the transferable amount equal to the home’s taxable value at the time of transfer plus $1 million. The $1 million allowance will be adjusted annually beginning in 2023.

Family farms can be eligible but clarification is expected from the State Legislature.

Additional revenue this ballot measure may generate is allocated to wildfire agencies and counties.

Taxpayers are encouraged to visit the State Board of Equalization, boe.ca.gov, for answers to frequently asked questions and new information as it becomes available.

••• PVUSD Announces New Staff he Pajaro Valley Unified School District introduces Diane Bury as academic coordinator for Mintie White Elementary and Gary Webb as director of maintenance and operations. Trustees approved these appointments at the Feb. 24 meeting.

Diane Bury has been with the district since 2005, as an elementary and middle

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Diane Bury

Gary Webb

school teacher. She was a summer school head teacher and an after-school coordinator. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in political science from Westmont University and her teaching credential from San Jose State. She obtained her administrative credential from the Santa Clara County Office of Education, Leaders in Educational Administration Program.

Gary Webb has 30 years of experience in facilities with a background and skills in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, boilers, generators, and computerized maintenance management systems. He focuses on effective customer service and strives to build relationships earning the respect of his crew and customers. He worked for the County of San Mateo for 30 years before coming to PVUSD as lead maintenance specialist, HVAC, in October.

He was a machinist mate, petty officer 2nd class, in the South Pacific from 1984 to 1988 aboard the USS Midway naval aircraft carrier. He operated the No. 3 engine room of the aircraft carrier, which is now a historical museum in San Diego. The No. 3 engine is one of the main attractions on the guided tour.

••• SJSU Scholarship Deadline he Santa Cruz Chapter of the San Jose State University Alumni Association is accepting applications for scholarships for students from public Santa Cruz County high schools and from Cabrillo College.

Deadline is March 31.

Most scholarships are $500 to $1,000 and are renewable for four years for high school students and for two years for Cabrillo transfers. The Carol Coe Memorial Scholarship, for $2,000, is awarded to the finalist who exemplifies outstanding community service.

For the application link, see sjsualumnisantacruz.org ••• Water Rights Webinar: March 18 n February 4, the state Division of Water Rights released a staff report on climate change, with recommendations to make water availability analysis for permitting new water rights more robust.

The public is invited to provide input on the report. The comment period has been extended until the end of day on March 31. Provide comments

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electronically to Jelena Hartman at jelena. hartman@waterboards.ca.gov.

Staff will host a live webinar on the report and recommendations 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 18 on Zoom.. Participants may provide input on the recommendations, data sources and approaches not captured in the report. To register, visit: https:// waterboards.zoom.us/webinar/register/ WN_NrKP4Sy5RAGAOtDwb0c5uw The webinar will be recorded for those who cannot attend or if the webinar surpasses Zoom meeting capacity.

For more information, visit https://www. waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/ programs/climate_change/ ••• Girl Scout Cookie Sale Extended irl Scouts of California’s Central Coast has extended this year’s Girl Scout Cookie Program from March 14 until April 18.

After reviewing the latest research and CDC guidelines, the Central Coast Girl Scout Council has also decided to reopen traditional troop cookie booths.

This means Girl Scouts will be selling cookies once again in locations such as outside of their local grocery and convenience stores — following COVID safety guidelines such as fewer girls and volunteers, facemasks, and a focus on electronic payments.

To support the next generation of female entrepreneurs, visit www. girlscoutsccc.org/findcookies or use the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app, free on iOS and Android devices. n

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CALIFORNIA NEWS

More Women on Corporate Boards O n March 1, Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber issued the third report on corporations’ compliance with Women on Boards (Senate Bill 826). The March 2021 report saw an increase in corporations reporting they have at least one female director on their board, with 311 publicly held corporations reporting compliance compared to 282 in the March 2020 report.

“The continued growth of diversity among corporate leadership that is Shirley Weber representative of California is important to ensuring an equitable economy and inclusive California,” Weber said. “We are thrilled to see an increase in publicly held companies that have diversified their boards.

We continue to analyze the data that we have collected to date and are excited about the opportunity we have to educate corporations about the new requirements that take effect by the end of 2021.”

Signed in law in 2018, Women on Boards requires all publicly held domestic or foreign (out-of-state) corporations whose principal executive offices are located in California to have at least one female director on their boards

by Dec. 31, 2019, either by filling an open seat or by adding a seat. By Dec. 31, 2021, these publicly held corporations must have the minimum number of female directors with one additional female director required if their board has five directors or two additional females if their board has six or more directors.

The Secretary of State’s office is tasked to issue reports regarding the corporations’ compliance with the bill’s provisions. Since Jan. 1, 2019, Publicly Traded Corporate Disclosure Statements filed with the Secretary of State’s office by publicly traded corporations, which includes publicly held corporations, has included a question asking whether the

corporation was in compliance with Women on Boards.

On Dec. 17, 2020, the Secretary of State’s office mailed an informational letter to more than 2,500 corporations advising them of existing California filing requirements as well as alerting them to the revised Publicly Traded Corporate Disclosure Statement form to report Women on Boards information. In addition, the letter informed corporations of future requirements under SB 826 as well as the implementation of AB 979 (Underrepresented Communities on Boards), which is a new 2021 reporting requirement for publicly held corporations with a California principal executive address.

The March 2021 Report can be found on the Secretary of State’s webpage — WomenOnBoards.sos.ca.gov — which includes reports on the corporations that have indicated compliance with SB 826 as well as the universe of identified

Women on Boards requires all publicly held domestic or foreign (out-of-state) corporations whose principal executive offices are located in California to have at least one female director on their boards ... By Dec. 31, they must have the minimum number of female directors with one more if their board has five directors or two if their board has six or more.

companies that will have to comply with this law. Methodology and additional resources are available as well.

The Secretary of State’s office will publish its next Women on Boards report

by March 1, 2022 as well as its first report on Underrepresented Communities on Boards. n ••• To learn more about Women on Boards and Underrepresented Communities on Boards visit DiversityOnBoards.sos.ca.gov.

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www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 11

COMMUNITY NEWS

County Park Friends Launches 30-Day Membership Drive C ounty Park Friends is launching a membership drive and you are invited to start making a real difference in the community.

Love our county parks, beaches and trails? Become a member to activate and improve them! Here’s a special incentive: Join in the first 30 days to receive a 10% discount to Lookout Santa Cruz, and a native CA seed bomb from Live Like Coco to beautify LEO’s Haven at Chanticleer Park.

“Join a community of like-minded people during a critical time,” said Mariah Roberts, executive director of County Parks Friends. “If you are eager to emerge from the pandemic era and help build a better future in our shared spaces, this is for you.”

County Park Friends works to improve and promote the use of Santa Cruz County parks, focusing on inclusion and access with partners such as Black Surf Club SC, Live Oak Cradle to Career, ParkRx and Black Health Matters.

In a county with more than 2,000 acres of parks, beaches and trails, membership is critical to supporting park improvements, scholarships, and

Parks Specialist Aniko Millan, Community Lead Brenda Gutierrez and Mariah Roberts at Chanticleer Park. volunteer projects. Through this program, County Park Friends members build skate parks, get kids swimming at Simpkins and keep beaches clean.

As the nonprofit partner to the Santa Cruz County Parks Department, County Park Friends serves every part of the county and donations are fully tax-deductible.

The 30-Day Membership Drive launches March 16 punctuated with pop-up park activities throughout the month and culminating April 17 with Let Love Grow, at which participants can help “seed bomb” LEO’s Haven Chanticleer Park with native wildflowers.

“We are excited to be part of this Earth Day event,” said Kate Pavao, executive director of Live Like Coco, a County Park Friends partner. “I can’t think of a more powerful way to symbolize our collective hope and resilience than to literally plant seeds in our community, together.”

Memberships start at $25 and $50 and go up to $500 and $1,000. All members get triple-layer cotton mask, stickers with original art by Paul De Worken, and invites to special events. Members who give $500 or $1,000 get VIP guided hikes in county parks locations. n ••• To learn more, visit: www.countyparkfriends. org/membership.html Watch a video about County Park Friends: https://youtu.be/hQQ9VhiEsyM

Cabrillo College Renaming Exploration Events

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n July 2020, Cabrillo College received a request to rename the college in response to widespread social unrest in the United States and critical analysis of the namesake of the college, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.

The request came at an important historical moment, with many in society beginning to question the historical legacy of slavery, colonial exploitation, and the naming of institutions after individuals with historical ties to those immoral practices.

Cabrillo College is not alone. Other institutions of higher education like Yale, Princeton, University of California at Berkeley, and George Washington University are and have been struggling with the same issues: who and how they were named, what names are appropriate for college buildings, and what impact can the legacy of a name have on students who are served by our institutions.

The Cabrillo College Governing Board’s Name Change Exploration Subcommittee established a process to assist

the board with its decision of reviewing and potentially renaming the college.

The subcommittee, established by the board on July 20, is composed of Trustees Christina Cuevas (chair) and Adam Spickler, and student Trustee Amidia Frederick. In September, the subcommittee called for the creation of a Name Exploration Advisory Task Force to help the subcommittee solicit widespread community stakeholder input; develop community education and engagement strategies; and examine the costs and resource implications of changing the college’s name.

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Appointments to the Advisory Task Force included a faculty member, classified staff member, management representative, student members, Cabrillo College retirees, and a representative of the Cabrillo College Foundation. In the fall, the Advisory Task Force met several times, reviewing naming principles and guidelines from other institutions.

Throughout November, the Advisory Task Force reviewed guiding principles developed at colleges that undertook a name change consideration process, then compiled a list of thoughtful guiding principles recommended to the Name Exploration Sub-

committee in determining whether the name of the college should be changed or not.

The Advisory Task Force recommends that decisions related to renaming the college or campus facilities should be undertaken in exceptional circumstances, where reasons are substantive and are justified through a comprehensive and inclusive community vetting process.

The process should consider the impact of renaming on the communities the college serves and should acknowledge and assess the complexity of the relevant history and historical context. It should be centered on a research-based approach that distinguishes fact from opinion and should protect free and open inquiry.

Mission and Values • The college should align the processes and actions for considering a name change with its mission and vision, including: ° Empowering students to be responsible world citizens “Cabrillo Name” page 19

COMMUNITY NEWS

CASA Welcomes New Advocates for Children in Foster Care O n March 9, Superior Court Judge Timothy Schmal swore in nine community members as Court Appointed Special Advocates for children in foster care.

All completed CASA’s 35-hour training program.

CASA of Santa Cruz County recruits, trains, and supervises volunteer Advocates who are matched one on one with a child in the county’s dependency (foster care) court system advocating for them the entire time they have a case open with the Court.

As officers of the Court, CASA volunteers ensure that the children’s needs are recognized and their best interests are considered in the courtroom, school, and in the community.

There is a great need for bilingual and male volunteers, and people from all cultures and professions and of all ethnic and

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CASA advocates for children from top left: Melanie Walters, trainer Jenny Hundemer, Jim Engelman, Hadi Mehdi, Bonnie Friedenbach, Donna Le Fever, outreach manager Clarita Cortes, Melanie Worthy, Gail Marzolf, Judge Timothy Schmal, Caitlin Mehdi. Missing from the photo: Debra DeRoos.

Santa Cruz Gets Housing Grant

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n March 1, the City of Santa Cruz announced it has been awarded $5 million through the State Housing and Community Development Department’s highly competitive grant program, Local Housing Trust Fund.

The award, allocated over five years, will provide critical funding to support at least three city-led affordable housing projects in the pipeline: Pacific

Station North at 333 Front St., Pacific Station South, 85 apartments, with ground floor commercial and second floor medical offices at the Metro bus station site, and the Library MixedUse Project with at least 50 affordable units.

It also represents the first such funding for the City since 2009.

“Housing Grant” page 15

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 13

MARCH 2021

Aptos Real Estate Update

Ruth Bates 831.359.2212

ruthbates1@gmail.com CalBRE#01799929

As of 3/06, there are only 14 homes for sale in Aptos. The lowest priced home is 209 Park in Seacliff which does have an ocean view, asking $960,000 for a 2 bed, 2 baths, 1180 Sq. Ft. home. The highest priced is 546 Beach Drive, asking $6.8 Million.

There are only 2 condos for sale ($615K, $799K), and 2 townhomes for sale ($950K, $1100K). In the past 30 days, 12 homes have sold. The lowest price was $794,000 for 359 Moosehead, 3/2.5/1532SF, 21 days on market, and the highest sale was $5.8M for 1118 Via Palo Alto, 2 days on market. Median List Price past 30 days is $1,195,000 and Median Sales Price is $1,495,000; that is 35% above list. Crazy! It is still very much a SELLER’S MARKET. So, if you are preparing your home for sale and want to increase its value, or just want your home to look nicer on the outside, here are some tips.

1) Conquer the yardwork. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do it, do it.

2) Improve your landscaping with a raised garden bed, planter boxes, or vertical gardens.

3) Add some hardscaping features such as a paver patio, a retaining wall, a gazebo, boulders, edging, pathways or walls.

Outdoor kitchens are all the rage with todays outside entertaining needs.

4) Add a coat of paint to the exterior, or change it up with a new exterior color.

5) Doors endure a lot of wear and tear; a new front door can really improve first impressions, enhance security and be more energy efficient.

6) Add a front porch; more outside space is a good thing.

7) Enhance the lighting, use LED lights and motion sensors, add string lights to make your outdoor spaces cozy and inviting

And for those of us planning to stay here in Aptos, here is a cost saving tip. Water heaters alone can account for around 12% of your home utility bill. Heating to higher than 120 degrees will cause your water heater to use too much electricity, turn it down from “very hot” to just “hot” and save some money.

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CALIFORNIA NEWS

Settled: For-Profit Fundraisers Made 172 Million Robo-calls C alifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined the Federal Trade Commission, and a coalition of attorneys general, secretaries of state, and state agencies from 37 other states, in announcing settlements against for-profit corporate fundraisers Associated Community Services, Inc. and Directele, Inc., as well as multiple corporations and individuals affiliated with them.

The settlements come after an FTC multistate investigation revealed that ACS and Directele violated both federal and state laws by engaging in illegal telemarketing practices and by making misleading statements to potential donors in order to solicit charitable donations for the fundraisers’ nonprofit clients.

“When someone finds it in their heart to donate to a charitable cause, they should be able to trust that their donation is in safe hands,” said Becerra. “These corporate fundraisers not only deceived the public by lying about how donations would be used, they also repeatedly harassed California donors through millions of abusive robocalls. These settlements include important injunctive relief to ensure that these bad actors are no longer able to deceptively fundraise or engage in illegal telemarketing tactics.”

“Deceptive charitable fundraising can be big business for scammers, especially when they use illegal robocalls,” said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

“The FTC and our state partners are prepared to hold fraudsters accountable when they target generous consumers with lies.”

These settlements are the result of a 2019 multistate investigation that revealed that ACS and Directele deceptively solicited donations on behalf of nonprofit organizations, violating both federal and California law.

The investigation found that ACS and Directele knowingly deceived the public by lying about how donations to their nonprofit clients would be used, keeping for themselves as much as 90 cents of every dollar donated.

They led donors to believe that the entirety of their contributions would go towards supporting particular programs — such as housing homeless veterans or helping children with cancer — when often only pennies on the dollar were spent on those programs.

ACS and Directele also falsely assured

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donors that their donations would benefit “local areas” or be used “nationwide,” when in fact the referenced programs — if they existed at all — were available in only limited geographic areas, not local to donors.

The investigation also revealed that ACS and Directele generated the vast majority of their fundraising through abusive and repetitive robocalls, violating the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule and significantly impacting California’s residents.

Combined, ACS and Directele placed more than 172 million fundraising calls into California over the course of four years, with the majority of those calls being robocalls employing “soundboard” technology, which plays prerecorded messages to potential donors and responds to questions and comments with prerecorded audio clips.

The Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits the delivery of prerecorded messages soliciting donations to a charity from individuals who have not previously donated to it, and also prohibits the delivery of such messages to prior donors, unless the call promptly provides the donor with a means to opt out of future messages.

Both ACS and Directele repeatedly violated these provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Under the terms of the settlement, Directele and its corporate affiliate, The Dale Corporation, will cease operations and dissolve (ACS and its corporate affiliates having ceased operations in or around September 2019). In addition, permanent injunctive relief will be entered by the court against the defendants, prohibiting them from: • Fundraising or providing fundraising services to any nonprofit organization; • Initiating or assisting others in initiating robocalls; • Engaging in abusive telemarketing practices; • Making misrepresentations regarding goods, services, or donations; • Violating California state law; and

• Violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Further, judgment of more than $110 million will be entered against each defendant, but partially or completely suspended due to an inability to pay.

The funds being surrendered by the defendants will ultimately be distributed to one or more legitimate charities that support causes similar to those for which the defendants solicited.

Becerra has taken numerous actions to protect California donors. In January 2021, he secured a multistate settlement against a deceptive veteran charity, Healing Heroes Network, Inc. and its former directors, resolving allegations that the nonprofit engaged in deceptive charitable solicitations.

In July 2020, he announced a lawsuit against the animal rescue charity, Little Love Rescue, for misleading donors and unlawfully soliciting donations. That same month, he announced a $7 million settlement against the Lithuanian Assistance Foundation, resolving allegations the organization’s officers and directors improperly transferred charitable assets to members of the board, their relatives, and employees.

In May 2019, Becerra and the Federal Trade Commission secured a $1.8 million settlement against Help the Vets, Inc. for misleading donors about its cause and defrauding donors out of millions of dollars in donations.

He reached a multistate settlement with VietNow National Headquarters, Inc., a charity that falsely claimed to help veterans; and he sued two bogus charities, Wounded Warriors Support Group and Central Coast Equine Rescue and Retirement, for pocketing the proceeds of charity raffles that were supposed to benefit veterans. n ••• A copy of the settlement with Directele Inc., The Dale Corporation, Nikole Gilstorf, and Antonio Lia is at https://tinyurl.com/settlement-directele.

Copies of the settlements with Associated Community Services, Inc., Community Services, Inc., Central Processing Services, Inc., and Richard “Dick” Cole are at https://tinyurl.com/settlementass-comm-serv-more; with Community Services Appeal, Inc. and Barbara Cole at https://tinyurl. com/settlement-comm-serv-appeal; with Robert W. “Bill” Burland and Amy J. Burland at https:// tinyurl.com/settlement-burland-burland; and with ACS Senior Managers Scot Stepek (https://tinyurl. com/settlement-stepek) and John Lucidi (https:// tinyurl.com/settlement-Lucidi).

“COVID Update” from page 7 When 1,300 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine came in, it was targeted for migrant workers, truck drivers, homeless individuals discharged from hospitals and jail inmates who could be hard to reach for the second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Another group targeted for the one-shot vaccine is elders who are homebound and unable to get to a clinic.

Hall recommended people signed up on MyTurn.ca.gov to be notified when there is a slot for a vaccine. That system will take effect April 1.

In the meantime, your best option is to check santacruzhealth.org and the vaccine button to see what’s available and who is eligible.

Kaiser Permanente, for example, has received a large allocation of vaccine and is offering slots to people who are not Kaiser patients.

CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens each has a website to check for availability. On Friday, CVS had availability only in Bakersfield, RiteAid asked questions to determine eligibility and Walgreens referred people to MyTurn.ca.gov.

But availability can change at a moment’s notice.

Even for Hall, supplies remain an issue.

“Clinics are planned this weekend,” she said. “They will only happen if we receive our allocation.”

The state contract for Blue Shield as vaccine administrator is supposed to address these issues.

Santa Clara County balked at signing the contract, saying their system was working but Hall felt positive after her first meeting March 9 with Blue Shield.

She said county health staff have juggled vaccine logistics with big providers such as Dignity Health and Sutter Health to share county doses when necessary to avoid canceling clinics.

With Blue Shield taking on this role, “it will free us up to concentrate on vulnerable populations not covered by other providers,” she said.

Another change by the state, earmarking 40 percent of vaccines for ZIP codes with the lowest Healthy Places Index score, hasn’t affected Santa Cruz County because

“Housing Grant” from page 13 “Since the loss of redevelopment agencies statewide in 2012, we have seen a significant decline in the amount of funding available for these critical affordable housing projects. This is an incredible win for the City of Santa Cruz,” Economic Development Director Bonnie Lipscomb said.

The Local Housing Trust Fund program award is intended to provide matching funds to local and regional housing trust funds dedicated to the creation, rehabilitation, or preservation of

it doesn’t have any ZIP code in the lowest quartile, but Hall said should help the state “as a whole move more quickly toward reopening.”

Data Problem As for statistics indicating vaccines are sitting in inventory, Hall attributed this to a data problem because the vaccines “are actually allocated.”

Newel, who voiced concerns about spring break travel, reminded people that after a trip, you must self-quarantine for 10 days.

She said the county is aligned with the new state guidance for adults and youth sports, allowing baseball, softball, cheerleading, volleyball, kickball, and doubles pickleball, tennis and badminton outdoors.

Asked if a small dinner party could be hosted safely, Newel said a small party without face coverings in a private home could be safe “as long as everyone is vaccinated.”

She also cited new federal CDC guidance on grandparent visits. That guidance allows fully vaccinated grandparents to see their grandchildren indoors without masks or physical distancing provided that none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe COVID-19.

A new issue being raised at school districts is the federal requirement for six-foot distancing for desks, exceeding the three-foot requirement specified by the World Health Organization.

Research is scanty on how much distance is protective and Indiana changed its requirement to three feet. An MIT study this summer concluded distancing rules are based on outdated science and factors such as ventilation and occupancy and exposure time made a difference.

The six-foot distancing requirement is why most public schools are offering hybrid instruction, with half the students on campus and half online, rather than bring all students back at the same time. Private schools that have smaller class sizes have brought all the students back because they have enough space to meet the distancing requirement.

To schedule a vaccine appointment, visit santacruzhealth.org or sign up at the state website, https://myturn.ca.gov. n Photos Courtesy of Dignity Health •••

affordable housing, transitional housing and emergency shelters.

A total of 33 applicants competed, requested $117 million when $57 million available. Santa Cruz finished in joint third place with five other jurisdictions out of the 17 jurisdictions awarded.

“A typical affordable housing project relies on a complex web of funding sources.

With three City-led projects representing more than 200 units of affordable housing in the pipeline, this new funding source is coming at just the right time,” Housing & Community Development Division Manager Jessica de Wit said. n

County COVID Deaths 193

As of March 12 Age 90 and up: 55 • 80 to 89: 59 • 70 to 79: 40 60 to 69: 27 • 50 to 59: 4 • 40 to 49: 4 30 to 39: 4 Race/Ethnicity White: 109 • Latinx: 67 • Asian: 15 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1 Underlying Conditions Yes: 149 • No: 44 Gender Male: 91 • Female: 102 Skilled Nursing/Residential Care Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 18 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 8 Sunshine Villa: 7 • Aegis: 4 Maple House 1: 4 • Valley Convalescent: 4 Watsonville Nursing Center: 4 Montecito Manor: 3 • De Un Amor: 2 Dominican Oaks: 2 • Driftwood: 2 Hanover House: 2 • Maple House II: 2 Paradise Villa: 1 • Rachelle’s Home 1: 1 Rachelle’s Home II: 1 • Valley Haven: 1 Westwind: 1 Total: 100 Not at a facility: 92 COVID Cases by Town Aptos: 735 • Ben Lomond: 105 Boulder Creek: 135 • Capitola: 415 Felton: 138 • Freedom: 940 Santa Cruz: 3,528 • Scotts Valley: 383 Soquel: 323 • Watsonville: 7,848

Lauren King, RN (from left), Jacqueline Sedgwick, MD, and Robert Chen, MD — from Dignity Health Medical Group–Dominican — prepare vaccines at the Harbor High School vaccination site.

Unincorporated: 231 Under investigation: 242 Total: 15,023 Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health ••• Editor’s Note: Would you like to share your family’s COVID-19 story? Email Jondi Gumz at info@cyber-times.com or call 831-688-7549 x17.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO SHAPE THEIR FUTURES WITH CONFIDENCE.

Kirby School is an independent college preparatory day school in Santa Cruz for grades 6-12.

Find a place to belong in our intellectually curious community. Join us at an upcoming virtual Admissions event to learn more about our exceptional college prep program and individualized instruction.

Visit kirby.org/register

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425 Encinal Street | Santa Cruz, CA 95060

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 15

NATIONAL NEWS

D I D YO U K N O W? We offer over 25 rebates for your home and/ or business, saving you water and money.

American Rescue Plan with $1.9T in Aid Is Law O n March 11, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law to help everyone affected by fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s in it? Here are answers provided by the office of U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, who voted for the bill:

Your Community Partner for Reliable Water

16 / March 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com

How much in direct aid to individuals and families? How much for parents? $1,400 for single individuals making up to $75,000 per year OR heads of household making up to $112,500 per year OR $150,000 for joint filers. They begin phasing out after those numbers, down to zero once you hit $80,000 (individuals), $120,000 (Head of Household), $160,000 (joint filers).

Dependents also get $1,400 (Children don’t get less, they get the same as adults).

This also applies to all dependents, including adult dependents.

How much for local, state and tribal government? he measure includes $350 billion to help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments pay for unbudgeted expenses tied to the Covid-19 emergency.

This includes $219.8 billion for states (including $20 billion for tribal governments), $130.2 billion for localities.

California’s state government is getting $26.065 billion.

How much for transit agencies? $30 billion for grants to transit agencies, which could use the money for

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operating expenses including payroll costs and purchasing personal protective equipment.

How much in unemployment aid? $242 billion — The bill extends the current enhanced unemployment benefits and the $300 per week boost through Sept. 6.

The bill also makes the first $10,200 of federal unemployment benefits tax-exempt.

How much for small businesses? $24 billion — This includes $15 billion for Economic Injury Disaster loans and $175 million toward assistance for community organizations, Small Business Administration resource partners, and community financial institutions to serve as “community navigators” to connect small business owners to SBA resources.

The measure would increase the Payroll Protection Program’s lending authority by $7.25 billion, to $813.7 billion, and appropriate the same amount for SBA loan guarantees.

The bill also includes $28.6 billion in restaurant grants.

How much for live venues that have been shut down for a year? $1.25 billion in additional funding for SBA grants to live venues and other cultural institutions under a program in the year-end relief package.

How much for rent aid? rovide $19.1 billion for rental assistance payments through the Treasury Department, building off the $25 billion in the year-end Covid-19 package.

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“$1.9 Trillion” page 18

COMMUNITY NEWS

Progress on Safety Issues at Nisene Marks State Park

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By Jondi Gumz

ptos residents are applauding the revamped entry into the 10,000acre Forest of Nisene Marks State Park to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety on Aptos Creek Road.

On March 3, State Parks staff moved the kiosk station at the entrance to the left, creating two lanes of traffic. One is for visitors in cars paying the entry fee and the other for Golden Poppy Pass holders and residents who live on Aptos Creek Road on property never acquired by the state and face an unsafe gauntlet of park visitors — cars, cyclists and people on foot — every time they go out for work or errands and return.

About 50 homes are inside the park.

If three people per household drive, that that means 600 trips a day on a one-lane road where car, foot and cyclist traffic has increased dramatically in the past year due to COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations to take advantage of recreation outdoors where the contagious coronavirus is less likely to spread.

“We have to look at the safety of the residents,” said Patrice Edwards, publisher of the Aptos Times. “When we want to walk down to get ice cream, we’re competing with cars and cyclists.”

Everyone who visits Nisene Marks, which was created in 1963, is jammed onto Aptos Creek Road because there is no walking path and no bike lane. The former logging road, lacking curbs, guardrails and drainage in steep wooded terrain, is eroding.

Parking lots recommended in the 2005 master plan have not been built, so visitors have parked willy-nilly along Aptos Creek Road, making it even more narrow and hazardous — and difficult for an ambulance to respond to medical emergency calls — but ticketing for illegal parking has been scanty.

In January, residents began discussing the problems with State Parks Sgt. Joe Walters, who manages 29 parks, looking for solutions.

First the state place orange cones to designate “no parking” areas. Then a “no parking” sign went up. Next, the manned kiosk station was moved four to five feet, creating two lanes, which Walters hoped

Photos Courtesy of State Parks

State Parks moved the station kiosk at Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos on March 3 to create two lanes and improve traffic flow.

would improve traffic flow, as at Sunset State Beach.

The reaction from residents: “This is excellent” and “fantastic.” One felt it would increase sales of the Poppy pass, which costs $125 a year and allows free entry into more than 100 parks.

Walters said he is working with Central Fire Marshall Mike DeMars to get “no parking fire lane” signs installed on Aptos Creek Road near a cluster of resident mailboxes where visitors often park, creating congestion.

Another improvement on the horizon is ADA — Americans with Disabilities Act — access to the bathrooms at the kiosk station and an ADA parking area. Walters said the project was approved in 2016 and is now going out to bid.

Grading: $10,000 s for road erosion, he said he got a bid of $10,000 to grade the dirt portion of Aptos Creek Road, requested by resident Al Hughes. He is working with the Advocates of Nisene Marks, Save the Redwoods League, and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks to secure money for this grading.

Peg Danielson, operations director at Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, said money can be donated and earmarked 100 percent for this project.

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“Nisene Marks” page 18

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“Nisene Marks” from page 17 Since the August CZU lightning fire, which burned 86,500 acres and closed Big Basin and Butano State Parks, the focus of state parks donations has been on fire recovery, Walters said, which is why he is reaching out to nonprofits for help.

Resident Becky Steinbruner suggested moving the “parking lot full” sign closer to Aptos Village Way for safer turnarounds.

“That’s definitely doable,” said Walters, who is working on designing a new sign and getting a cost estimate.

People wanting to visit the park might ignore the sign, “but it’s a good first step,” said resident Todd Marco, who had offered to investigate the feasibility of an electronic sign.

Radio Signal igital signage is more expensive so he suggested a radio signal from the station kiosk manned by seasonal staff hired by Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks to a planned non-manned entrance kiosk to alert visitors when parking lots are full.

That kiosk is to be installed by Swenson, which built the first phase of the Aptos Village development, after completing the second phase — seven multi-use buildings — which is to start this summer.

“We’re open to this radio signal concept,” said Jessie Bristow, project

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Photo Credit: Becky Steinbruner

A car on Aptos Creek Road heading towards Nisene Marks State Park, when the parking lot is full. manager with Swenson. “We’re definitely willing to work with everyone … we want to avoid putting a burden on anyone.”

Edwards said Verizon cell phone service is functional at the manned kiosk but Walters said the kiosk has no power and no cell phone reception, which could be problematic for creating a digital alert system.

Ticketing vehicles for illegally parking is another challenge. Walters said enforcement rangers rove from one park to another, rather than staying within a park.

The seasonal staff working in the station kiosk are not sworn officers and cannot issue citations, he explained.

Marco proposed a resident parking

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placard system at Mangels Gulch for himself and his neighbor who find their parking spaces taken by park visitors.

Walters said he would talk about it with them later.

Marco has started a private Facebook group called “The Gateway to Nisene Marks,” which has more than 100 members, to share ideas to make the forest safe and enjoyable for all.

Trail? Bridge? is latest idea is to create a new trail, which he calls the “Nisene Gateway Improvement Project,” to reduce foot and bike traffic on Aptos Creek Road as a way of addressing park access and public safety issues. For this initiative, he has started a Google group and outreach to the community, such as Shared Adventures, a nonprofit supports ADA access projects.

Edwards asked if the bridge over Mangels Gulch could be resurrected to eliminate a double-blind hairpin turn on

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“$1.9 Trillion” from page 16 How much for vaccine distribution? $8.5 billion for vaccine activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. $5.2 billion to support manufacturing and purchasing vaccines. The measure would provide $10 billion to use the Defense Production Act to purchase, produce, and distribute medical supplies and equipment related to Covid-19.

Anything else?

• $170 billion for education, including $125 billion for K-12 schools to update their ventilation systems, reduce class sizes, and hire support staff.

• $118 billion to expand the Child Tax Credit to expand the child tax credit to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children under age 18. The credit would also be fully refundable and available through monthly payments, rather than a lump sum once a year.

This will nearly cut child poverty in half.

• $45 billion to provide a two-year

Aptos Creek Road. A trestle bridge over Mangels Gulch was built for the logging railroad, which operated in the 1880s, and then converted to automobile use in the late 1930s, provided an alternate route for residents before the land was given to the state in 1963. The bridge is no longer in use, apparently because it needed costly repairs.

One spot park visitors considered “free parking,” a dirt lot owned by Swenson next to the Aptos Village development, is fenced off and no longer available.

With no one monitoring, a man living in a vehicle moved in and was fixing cars and it took two months to evict him, Bristow said.

He said five public parking spaces will be created along Aptos Creek Road and a sidewalk will be installed on the north lot of phase two.

The fenced-off lot is to be given to the county as a parklet upon completion of construction but it’s currently Swenson property.

Edwards asked about Aptos Village Way, which is easily congested when large vehicles park on the side, forcing drivers to cross the yellow center lines.

Bristow said Aptos Village Way is privately maintained and was designed to be narrow to make people slow down — “traffic calming” — but wide enough for fire engines.

“At this time I don’t have a solution for you,” he said.

Marco noted a “severe shortage of parking” for businesses in that area.

“Before removing parking, we’d have to have plans to put parking somewhere,” he said. n

increase in the Affordable Care Act premium subsidy amounts to allow recipients to pay a smaller percent of income on insurance premiums.

• $40 billion for child care.

• $25 billion to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to include lowincome taxpayers without qualifying children.

• $16.1 billion for health providers, including $8.5 billion to support rural health care providers through the Provider Relief Fund and $7.6 billion for Community Health Centers.

• $12 billion in nutrition assistance, including extending the 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through Sept. 30, 2021.

• $10 billion to create a six-month 100% federal subsidy for individuals who lost their employer-sponsored insurance.

• $7 billion for broadband.

• $3.9 billion to support mental health services. n

COMMUNITY NEWS

Kirby School: Community Involvement in Action C ultivating the belief that one person can make a difference and building the confidence to do so is a core tenet of Kirby School, which was founded in 1994, and one of the main goals of its Community Involvement program.

In its fourth year of formal operation, the Community Involvement program builds service opportunities into the school day for Kirby students in grades 6-12.

Kirby prioritizes service and the needs of the c o m m u n i t y, and introduces students to the people and o rg a n i z a t i o n s that meet those needs.

This year, 20 partner o rg a n i z a t i o n s include Santa Cruz SPCA, Second Harvest Food Bank, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve, and the Homeless Garden Project.

In addition, students will undertake service projects on or around the campus in Santa Cruz, such as removing invasive species from the Pogonip Open Space, which is directly behind the Kirby campus.

In the past, the Kirby community completed more than 1,000 hours of service in one day.

This year, a year in which the contagious coronavirus COVID-19 has upended many traditions, Kirby School expanded

“Cabrillo Name” from page 12 ° Promoting a commitment to quality and equity ° Fostering diversity and equal opportunity • Emphasize historically underrepresented and emerging student populations and maintain responsibility to serving a diverse group of students as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

Approach • Maintain an education-driven process that centers on faculty and students, and strives to educate the internal campus community as well as the broader community within the entire district.

• Undertake the work with intellectual

the program to encompass three service days in March, to accommodate new safety guidelines.

As a school for grades 6-12, Kirby was required by the state to switch to distance learning when the COVID case rate puts Santa Cruz County in the Purple Tier with the most restrictions to reduce transmission of the virus.

With the case rate declining, Santa Cruz County advanced into the less restrictive Red Tier March 9, and Kirby School returned to in-person classes in a hybrid learning model that day.

“COVID-19 has touched every community in the nation and around the world. On a very personal level, every student knows this, because they have felt the impact on their lives or their family or their friend’s lives,” said Christy Hutton, Head of School. “Refocusing attention on the needs of our wider community, stu-

dents look beyond personal challenges, and reconnect with one another and rediscover their own capacity. They find purpose through action, which is an act of empowerment. These are the times that inspire young minds to do great things.”

Juliet McKinney, 11th grade student at Kirby School, said, “During the time of COVID, when community seems so hard to find, Kirby has given students the opportunity to come together and not only work collectively to help themselves, but to help others as well. To me, community involvement means actively working to better the places and people around you which in turn creates a fulfilling feeling that is hard to beat.” n

rigor and compassion for the individuals who will be affected by the decisions of the change requested.

• The process should be transparent and encourage the free exchange of ideas during all deliberations.

• Consider the benefits and/or harms of how a decision to keep or to change the name of the college might impact the college’s reputation, student enrollment, employee/ faculty hiring, donor contributions, while acknowledging that differences may arise.

• Model the behaviors of listening, truth-seeking and respect.

• Be committed to finding and highlighting the shared values at the core of all perspectives.

• Demonstrate a commitment to equity

by guarding against any stakeholder group using their influence to overpower the viewpoints of other stakeholder groups.

• Strive for consensus wherever possible and to rise above opinion-based or shortsighted positions.

The community is invited to listen to the discussion at a series of events this spring. n ••• The Dates Thursdays at 6 p.m. via Zoom Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android ••• March 18 Name Exploration Community Event: Dr. Iris Engstrand — Who was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo? https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/92661568211

Photos Credit: Josh Tropp

Kirby School students participate in the school’s Community Involvement program undertaking service projects at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve in Moss Landing

April 8 Topic: Native American Panel on Impacts of Colonization https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/91997981867 April 15 Topic: Sandy Lydon, Retired Cabrillo College History Professor — How and Why Cabrillo College Got Its Name https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/93990699782 April 22 Topic: Student Debate: Should Cabrillo Change its Name? https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/98813902824 April 29 Topic: President’s Essay & Art Competition Entry Awards (PEACE Awards) https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/97432344983 ••• Visit tinyurl.com/cc-name-exploration for more information

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 19

COMMUNITY NEWS

PVHS Students Get Their Athletic Field O n Feb. 26, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District celebrated, in a safe manner, the official opening of the athletic field at Pajaro Valley High School in a virtual, live-streamed ribbon-cutting ceremony.

For students at Pajaro Valley High School, which opened in 2004, this was a historic moment, giving young athletes — the Grizzlies — a field for soccer, football and track and a place for families to see graduation ceremonies — just like their counterparts at other high schools around the county.

The school’s location at 500 Harkins Slough Road, Watsonville, led to conflict with the Watsonville Pilots Association, which contended the initial plans put the athletic field in the path of a runway at nearby Watsonville Municipal Airport.

Choosing another location on the campus resolved that matter, but three environmental impact reports were required by the California Coastal Commission as the site is next to wetlands habitat.

For those who participated, the ribboncutting was an emotional event, one to get

PVUSD Superintendent Dr. Michelle Rodriguez speaks at the grand opening of the Grizzlies’ new athletic field. a bit teary-eyed. A recording is posted at: proud, first and foremost, of the students and parents and teachers, community https://youtu.be/ftpTyQr2oOA?t=852 The project was funded by Measure L, members and everyone else who kept a $150 million bond measure Pajaro Valley pushing for this to happen. I’m excited for the students who will finally be able to Unified voters approved in 2012.

“It’s beautiful,” wrote Felicia go to a complete school, run on their own Davidson, a 2015 PVHS alumna now an track, stop running in a parking lot for PE outreach coordinator for CASA, in a long or having to choose between homework help and waiting an hour for the bus to get post on Facebook.

“In seeing the completed field, I’m to practice.

A look at Pajaro Valley High School’s new sports complex, including a full football/soccer/track-and-field stadium and a baseball/softball field.

PVUSD Board President Jennifer Holm (left) and PVHS Principal Matthew Levy speak during the ceremonies.

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“I am a still a bit frustrated and saddened by the sheer amount of continued effort and time that it took just to provide students at Pájaro Valley High with the basic infrastructure that they deserve. The disparities in opportunities and supplies for students of color and students in low income areas is stark and shameful and the experience of fighting for the completion of Pájaro Valley High made it all too clear how difficult it can be to even begin to bridge those gaps.

“The opening of the field is a time to celebrate — to celebrate the students, staff, and community members of the past who worked tirelessly for this to occur as well as the students of the future who will run, play, and graduate on this field.

“Over a decade and a half after its opening, the students of PV will finally be getting the completed school that they deserve. This is something worth celebrating. Still, we must continue to address the disparities that exist within our education system and provide every student with an equitable chance to succeed and thrive.” n ••• Images Courtesy of PVUSD Live Stream

Pajaro Valley High School seniors run the first lap on the new track after the ribbon cutting.

PVHS administration, students, and mascot join with PVUSD Board President Jennifer Holm for the official ribbon cutting.

The small crowd cheers as the PVHS seniors finish the inaugural lap.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Staff of Life: Betting on Watsonville

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By Jondi Gumz

ow that the owners of Staff of Life Natural Foods have invested an untold amount of money to create a dare-I-say-beautiful new nearly 20,000-squarefoot store in Watsonville featuring fresh local organic produce and everything else that’s in the Santa Cruz store, they want to woo shoppers from Aptos (avoid the traffic), Hollister and Marina.

“Organic is the big movement,” said co-founder Gary Bascou, who got his start with partner Richard Josephson when they opened Staff of Life organic bakery in 1969.

“Now it’s finally moving into the mainstream.”

They’ll see if shoppers will change their habits when the new store opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 30, at East Cliff Village shopping center, 906 E.

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Pictures From the Past

A Beachy Day in the Fifties

(if You Can Find Parking)

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Lake Ave., Watsonville (formerly Super Max Discount Foods).

Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

It’s a bold move, opening in a new market in a pandemic, an opening that was postponed from mid-September when COVID-19 cases began to escalate rapidly and state health officials limited entry into retail stores to prevent spread of the contagious coronavirus.

The new timing takes advantage of a waning trend in new COVID-19 cases — single Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz digits — in the county and The entrance to the new Staff of Life store, located at 906 E. Lake 111,000 vaccine doses given to Ave. in Watsonville. county residents.

Bascou’s stepson Jason Bazarnick, 45, The renovated space is bright and made a career switch from law to be a next- feels as big as the 23,000-square-foot store generation owner at the helm in Watsonville. in Santa Cruz. Manning Development “I feel honored to be part of it,” of Aptos tackled the remodel, with PreBazarnick said. ferred Plumbing and JG Pro Painting, While Josephson was busy in Santa Cruz, both of Watsonville, and Rinaldi Tile of Bascou and his wife Peggy gave the Aptos Pajaro.

Times a preview of the store Wednesday as “Staff of Life” page 22 employees were stocking shelves.

Photo Essay by Carolyn Swift

lthough visitors like to dream of the time when finding a parking spot at the beach was easy, the truth is that it’s always been something of a nightmare.

A sunny forecast is all that’s needed to fill up every available inch.

Many a foolish driver applauded themselves when they found a spot right in front of the seawall.

And can you imagine walking up and down the beach, asking if someone owned the black Ford behind the green Hudson and the gray Olds? n

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Cultural Nonprofits Eligible for COVID Aid

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By Jondi Gumz

egistered 501 (c)(3) cultural nonprofits such as dance companies, theater companies, musical groups and museums that have struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible to apply for a state grant from March 16 through March 23 from $50 million in funding out of $2 billion in small business aid approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Nonprofits with 2019 revenue of $1,000 to $100,000 are eligible for $5,000; those with revenue of $100,000+ up to

Office of Business and Economic $1 million are eligible for $15,000 Development, is overseeing the and those with more than $1 program. Minority-owned Lendmillion in revenue are eligible istry, an online lender founded for $25,000. in 2015 by Everett Sands and Grants will be prioritized CDFI-certified, was chosen by the based on percentage revenue state to process applications and decline comparing the second and distribute grants. third quarters of 2020 with those In its first two funding quarters in 2019.

Everett Sands rounds, 40,000 small businesses Applicants must apply at and nonprofits were selected out of 350,000 CAReliefGrant.com.

California’s Office of the Small applicants to receive $500 million in grants.

Business Advocate, part of Governor’s The requests exceeded $4.5 billion.

“Staff of Life” from page 21 99% Organic hoppers entering the Watsonville store will see organic produce front and center, “99 percent organic,” Bascou said.

He suggests shoppers who want non-GMO food — not genetically modified — buy organic.

To showcase Watsonville’s agricultural tradition, antique farming implements — borrowed from the Agricultural History Project at the fairgrounds — are on display.

William de Ess Studio created the signs on canvas depicting well-known sites such as a plane at Watsonville Municipal Airport, an apple orchard, and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.

Local artist Roy Johnson created the unusual light fixtures. Above the produce, some lights are shaped like apple baskets. At the deli, bakery and smoothie bar, the lights are painted to look like artichokes, strawberries and squash.

There will be a new menu including baked goods (including gluten-free) prepared in Santa Cruz, grab-and-go items made in-house and gelato.

For the outside windows, Aptos artist Art Thomae painted harvest murals.

Each section of the store can easily be found thanks to the distinctively familiar signs by artist Mott Jordan, a former Staff of Life employee.

Vitamins and cosmetics have their own section up front. Meat, poultry and seafood raised without antibiotics or hormones are toward the back. So are wines.

Of course, there will be rotisserie chicken and a big cheese selection.

The bulk section gives shoppers a way to buy grains, beans, nuts, seeds, granola, trail mixes, flours, and teas

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Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz

Gary and Peggy Bascou, married for 20 years, are happy to see Staff of Life ready to open in Watsonville March 30. at lower prices and avoid packaging waste. Unlike many self-serve jars, where you reach in with a scoop, all the dispensers are gravity-fed, Bascou said, and the county health department has approved their use, requiring the levers be cleaned every two hours to prevent virus spread.

Frozen food occupies one wall on the side, and Hollie Wendt, the store’s market specialist, pointed out the variety of pizzas “without chemicals,” many ice cream choices including coconut milk and oat milk, and many options for vegans.

Home canning supplies will be available along with other kitchen tools, everything from a meat thermometer to a cast-iron skillet.

Customers will see a lot more Indian food, Bascou added, and an aisle devoted to international foods.

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Lots Of Parking peaking of aisles, they’re wider in Watsonville compared to the Santa Cruz store, easier to maneuver with a cart.

Another difference: The parking lot is ever so big so it should be easy to find a space.

As for prices, Josephson made this statement, “We strive to offer our customers the best prices on the best products available … We work hard every day to earn loyal shoppers.”

The Watsonville store will be staffed by 80 employees, some of whom have worked at the Santa Cruz location, which has about 100 employees.

Nadia Scally, tapped as Watsonville store manager, started as a bagger and cashier seven or so years ago and worked her way up.

She’s bilingual. After buying a home

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Waitlisted small businesses were eligible to apply for Round 3 from March 5-11.

New applicants can apply in Round 5, March 25-31, and applicants not awarded a grant in the previous rounds are automatically considered.

Dates for Round 6 have not been announced, but applicants not awarded a grant previously are automatically considered. n For info from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, see www.business.ca.gov

in Monterey County, she wanted to cut her commute.

Ana Bucio is transferring from Santa Cruz to become vitamin manager in Watsonville.

Bascou said Chris and Clark Codiga, who own the shopping center, are Staff of Life customers and “made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

When the decision to open in Watsonville was made, the local economy was humming. Unemployment was low; competition for talent was high.

With the pandemic’s safety restrictions forcing many businesses to cut hours or close, many local residents have been jobless — 8.6% unemployment in January — but there’s been no need for a Staff of Life job fair because so many people are applying.

Staff of Life offers senior discounts.

And it is known for its Sharatoken and Givback programs, which in the last five years donated more than $100,000 to local charities.

Bascou and Josephson, in business together for 52 years, are both in their 70s, so naturally the question of succession came up.

Bascou’s wife Peggy had a heart-toheart talk with her son, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and UCLA Law School, when he turned 40.

“He’s always been a foodie,” she said.

He chose to change careers, becoming a part-owner, and has no regrets.

Peggy worked at Bread & Circus, the natural food retailer, and in bookkeeping, advertising and then nursing, including 14 years at Watsonville Community Hospital. She wants to have a dietitian offer a class – when gathering is allowed — on how to shop smart and eat healthy.

“It’s definitely in our plans,” she said. n

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Survey: 39% of Parents Want To Keep Distance Learning

Aptos Has Fewer Covid Cases So Why Not Open Schools in Aptos First?

Q&A With Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, PVUSD Superintendent

I am a student from Aptos Jr. High School and I have a petition. I would like for you to give 7th grade students and older permission to change our names and profile pictures in our YouTube accounts. Some of us students need a hobby during these difficult times and most sports and other extracurricular activities are shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students like myself would like to start YouTube channels in order to have something to do each day besides school. If you let us change our YouTube channel names and Profile Pictures that could actually help a number of students. appreciate receiving questions from our students and thank you for sending it to me so you may have the information.

School Google accounts are automatically created from our Student Information System with information provided during enrollment.

All accounts are synced 6 times a day to ensure new accounts are created as soon as possible for new students, and existing accounts have the correct information to allow for teachers to accurately email, share and assign classwork. The PVUSD Google account should be used only for school-related endeavors since it is a district provided account that is tied into dozens of instructional applications.

If a student wants to use YouTube to post personal content unrelated to school activities, with a personalized profile picture and name, then they should create a personal Google/Youtube account with parent permission of course. Students must be 13 years or older to create a YouTube account on their own (YouTube Terms of Service). If you are not at least 13 years old, your parents can help create and manage an account (How to Create and Manage Google Account).

As you move forward in life, it is always best practice to have two accounts; one for your professional work or school content, and one for your personal online presence that can be associated with your personal social media accounts.

For more information, Common Sense Media has some great supporting content for parents in Spanish and English to help parents guide their children to safely access YouTube.

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I received yesterday a survey regarding the return of school for elementary aged students.

What surprised me the most was that the students would only be in the classroom a total of one-and-half-hours per day. Why is the district not allowing students to be in the classroom full days in a hybrid setting?

I fully support our kids returning to the classroom but this makes it difficult for parents who still have to work. Thank you ne of the key comments we received from parents in a recent parent survey was the desire to maintain their current teacher. Additionally, according to our February 2021 Elementary Parent Survey, 40% of parents wished to remain in distance learning. If we implemented a traditional hybrid model, it would have resulted in at least 25% of all students changing their teachers with only 9 weeks left of school.

Another concern shared by parents was that the students had a significantly shorter instructional day than in a regular school year and therefore were learning much less. Therefore, we decided that any schedule we developed should ensure that students kept their current teacher and had more instructional time mirroring and more closely aligned to what they would have received in a regular school year.

We have learned from schools across the nation that the traditional hybrid AB schedule is very challenging for students as they have entire days where they did not have access to their teachers for support and instruction. While some students can work independently for several days a week at a time, many experience difficulties.

Therefore, when the students do see their teacher the following day in person, the teacher has to spend substantial time addressing concerns, questions or lack of engagement related to students’ asynchronous days, which reduces overall instructional time. With our schedule, all students will continue to have daily access to their current teacher for questions, guidance and instruction in distance learning.

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You say that 40% of parents don’t want to take their kids back to in-person learning?

Where was this “voting” station at?

Because I didn’t vote. The majority of the parents I have spoken to want to take their kids back and didn’t vote either? Are these 40% parents/teachers? If students stay

home because of medical and/or preferences.

Why can’t they just continue to do virtual learning, and the other students come back to school? That is being done at so many schools now. Why is that not an option for us? Do parents who do not have the option of staying home even have a say? n Feb. 21, we sent a survey to all elementary parents (TK-5/6 grade) for their feedback on return to in-person instruction. We got 2,917 Responses.

An email and text were sent to all emails and phone numbers on file in our Student Management System, Synergy.

If you did not receive the survey and you are an elementary parent, please check with your school’s office or check online to update your information. We will be sending out a secondary parent survey within the next week or so.

We received 2,917 responses from elementary parents. We did a separate survey for our teachers, therefore, they are not included in the 40%. Below you will find the response to the question about coming back to in-person learning with 39.2% stating that they wanted to remain in full time distance learning for the rest of the school year.

PVUSD has consistently committed to ensuring that all families have the option to remain in distance learning throughout the 2020-2021 school year with a teacher who provides daily synchronous instruction. Implementing an AB hybrid schedule would have required about 25% of all students to change their teacher with only 9 weeks left of school. As noted in the response above, this was a concern to the majority of the parents.

are currently providing in person instruction for middle and high schools as we are not allowed to provide in person instruction at the secondary level while we are still in the purple tier.

We do anticipate Santa Cruz County will move into the red tier in the near future which will then allow school districts to provide in person instruction at the secondary level. Regardless of whether or not we are in the purple or red tier, we still need to maintain the six feet of physical distancing guidance provided by the California Department of Public Health.

Their guidance states to “maximize space between seating and desks, distance teacher and other staff desks at least 6 feet away from student and other staff desks.

Distance student chairs at least 6 feet away from one another, except where 6 feet of distance is not possible after a good-faith effort has been made.”

We measured the square footage of all of our rooms and found that all primary classrooms (as they are varying sizes) can accommodate at least 12 K-2 students with the 6 feet of physical distance and 15 students within the other classrooms grades 3-12.

For that reason, we are implementing a hybrid model with two cohorts as we are not able to have all students returning at the same time.

One significant change to return to in person instruction for a full five-day week for all grades would require CDPH to remove the physical distancing requirements so that all students could once again be present in their classrooms, common areas and buses at the same time.

Please specify what are the “significant changes” needed in order to reopen in person schooling for a full 5 days a week for all grades and why has a solution not been developed in the one year since closure? he solutions and plans developed by PVUSD are all based upon local public health conditions related to COVID-19.

Currently, Santa Cruz County is still in the purple tier. This precludes school districts from opening up secondary schools.

For that reason, there are no public school districts in Santa Cruz County that

How will the students be grouped for the cohorts? s teachers are the most knowledgeable about the needs of their class and their individual students, teachers will have the flexibility to establish their cohorts of students for in person learning. Throughout the school year, the District has provided instructional priorities which still need to be addressed through either distance learning or in-person instruction.

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“PVUSD Q&A” page 26

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 23

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Vaccination or No Vaccination: Let’s Spread Tolerance

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By Joyce Vissell

his is not an article about the benefits of getting a vaccination. Nor is it an article about not getting a vaccination. I am writing about following one’s heart and having respect for others’ decisions.

There is so much tension right now about a person’s decision to either vaccinate or not. We need to have respect for one another.

The decision to get vaccinated was not difficult for me.

Right away, in my heart, I knew this was the right decision for me. I have had Covid-19 and I was really sick with it, and I also know how lucky and blessed I was that I never had to go to the hospital. I do not want to get Covid-19 again or any of the variants. I did not even have to think about this decision. My heart directed me very clearly.

But just as clearly, people are being directed by their hearts to not get the vaccination.

We have a mentorship program that now meets on Zoom. There are ten women in this group, with Barry and me as the leaders. Having this group has been enormously helpful for all of us, especially during this time of the pandemic.

During one session, Kerry cried while she shared a recent very traumatic experience.

A friend had asked her if she was going to get vaccinated, and Kerry replied that it did not feel right for her. The friend then proceeded for two hours to verbally abuse and bully her, calling Kerry irresponsible and part of problem of the pandemic. Finally, Kerry had to ask her friend to leave, but she felt traumatized and, after two weeks, she was still dealing with the emotional abuse she felt from that time.

Kerry’s trust in her friend was deeply broken.

In this same mentorship group, we also have, besides Barry, three other wonderful doctors, each with over 30 years of experience. I asked one of the doctors how she felt about the vaccination, and she gave this reply, “I tell all of my patients about the benefits of getting the vaccination. But then I also tell them to tune into their body and into their hearts and intuition, and find the answer for themselves.”

Toni Luckett, RN, receives the first COVID-19 vaccine at Dominican Hospital.

I have two very good friends that I have had for more than 35 years. They do not know each other and live in different cities. Each one has come to the conclusion that, for them, the vaccination is not right.

For me, I know that the vaccination is right.

We respect each other’s decisions and there is no need to argue.

The pressure can go the opposite way as well.

I have a counseling client, Betty, who is 80 years old. She is undecided about the vaccination because her daughter subscribes to the various conspiracy theories about vaccinations.

Her daughter puts great pressure on Betty every single day to not get the vaccination, and sends her articles that support her argument.

Betty’s doctor has urged her to get the vaccination, especially because her husband has multiple health challenges involving his lungs and heart.

Betty’s daughter has told her that she will feel betrayed if her mother gets the vaccine. She gives her mother no freedom to go inside her own heart and intuition and find what is right for her.

We need to respect each other, and trust that each person will follow his or her own

24 / March 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com

heart. If your friend is making a decision that is very different from your decision and belief, there needs to be respect.

The proper answer is, “OK, I trust you are making the right decision for you.”

I swim almost every day at a sports gym near my home. There is a beautiful outdoor pool, and we all must sign up for a time and then can have a whole lane to ourselves for just 45 minutes.

Today, I was running late and was in a hurry to change into my suit. As I entered the locker room, I was keenly aware there was a verbal fight going on between two women.

I quickly gathered that one of the women must have said she did not believe in vaccinations and the other woman was yelling at her, blaming that she was the whole reason the pandemic might just continue.

The rest of us were just trying to change into our swimsuits or get back into our clothes, and had to endure the arguing and negativity.

As I did not want to miss out on my swim time, I quickly left. But I thought about it while I was swimming.

We all need to have tolerance right now for different opinions. When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccinations, there is much uncertainty and fear.

None of us know the inner story of

Photo Credit: Shmuel Thaler

a person’s decision to vaccinate or not vaccinate.

We know a young man who is choosing to not get vaccinated. When he was a baby, his mother allowed his doctor to vaccinate him, and he ended up in a hospital with a severe allergic reaction. The doctor in charge told his mother to make sure he never receives another vaccination as he could end up back in the emergency room, or worse.

Right now, we need to spread tolerance, understanding, respect and kindness, not only with the issue of vaccination, but with all issues. Our world is needing this right now.

If someone you know is making a decision different from what you feel, just allow them to have their choice and give love, acceptance, and understanding.

Giving forth a peaceful and loving energy can help so much. n ••• Joyce & Barry Vissell, a nurse/therapist and psychiatrist couple since 1964, are counselors who live in Aptos and are passionate about conscious relationship and personal-spiritual growth.

They are the authors of 9 books and a new free audio album of sacred songs and chants. Call 831-684-2130 for information on counseling sessions by phone, on-line, or in person, their books, recordings or their schedule of talks and workshops or visit their web site at SharedHeart.org

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Takeout Restaurant Alcohol Equals Easy Access for Minors

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By Christina Borbely and Suzette Rochelle-DiVirgilio

n an effort to help California restaurants and bars survive the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (the ABC) loosened restrictions on takeout and delivery of alcoholic beverages. This has provided an opportunity for our community to support local businesses and enjoy drinks responsibly at home to avoid COVID-19 transmission.

Unfortunately, it has also created a greater challenge for public health: how do we prevent minors from accessing alcohol, ensure safe transport of alcoholic beverages in private vehicles, and enforce ID checks when alcohol is delivered by thirdparty services?

The ABC’s Coronavirus regulatory relief changes allow alcohol licensees to sell alcoholic drinks to-go in prepackaged or sealed containers, through take out windows, and by curbside pickup. Containers for alcoholic beverages must have a secure lid or cap that prevents consumption without removal with no openings in the lid.

In addition, retailers must post a prominent warning advising customers to put alcohol in the trunk of their car while driving, and that all provisions of California’s open container laws still apply. The ABC emphasizes that licensees must use this regulatory relief responsibly without compromising the public’s health, safety, or welfare.

Far too many businesses have eagerly embraced the relaxed regulations while neglecting their responsibility to protect youth and the public.

Statewide ABC enforcement actions found significant violations of the law, stating that, “Most concerning is that minors are routinely able to purchase alcohol through delivery from restaurants.

There have been instances in which the licensee’s own employees have done so, but a far greater rate has been evident among third-party delivery services.”

Not Liable ompliance actions from ABC found up to 70% of minor decoys were able to receive alcohol from third-party delivery services. When alcohol is ordered through a third-party delivery service, such as DoorDash, UberEats, or GrubHub, the companies themselves are not liable.

Legal responsibility for checking to make sure that they are not selling to minors rests on alcohol licensees and delivery drivers. When our local alcohol merchants and third-party delivery services treat public health as their personal responsibility, our community is less likely to experience consequences of increased youth alcohol consumption, alcohol poisonings, and drunk driving tragedies.

Alcohol license holders must take the initiative to seek out the particulars of their responsibilities under the relaxed regulations and put them into practice.

Parents and guardians should note the easier access to alcohol for minors and re-evaluate their system for preventing underage drinking.

One way to engage is to have an honest, non-judgmental conversation with youth about safety and alcohol. Parents should keep alcohol in their homes locked up and monitor home deliveries.

Some youth may be having trouble coping with the stress of the pandemic and isolation and may view alcohol as a way to escape. By having a conversation and keeping these products secured, parents can send a clear message that they will be there for their children, and alcohol won’t be.

We don’t have to choose between thriving businesses and negative outcomes associated with increased alcohol use during the pandemic.

To achieve a safe and healthy Santa Cruz County, we must remember our responsibilities as business owners, employees, policymakers, law enforcement officers, and parents.

We can temporarily relax regulations

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and still maintain a healthy community by emphasizing education of alcohol merchants, consistent enforcement of the law, and securing and monitoring alcohol in our homes. n ••• Christina Borbely and Suzette RochelleDiVirgilio are co-chairs of Community Prevention Partners.

Baseball

ACROSS

1. Turkey trot, e.g.

6. Dadaist Jean 9. *____ crew, Milwaukee Brewers fan base 13. Poppy seed derivative 14. Afghan monetary unit 15. Hotel room option 16. Category of artistic composition 17. Between northeast and east 18. Relating to pond scum 19. *Babe Ruth’s first major league team 21. *____-and-____ sport 23. Dog command 24. Bald eagle’s home 25. Witchy woman

28. Back wound?

30. Siskel or Ebert 35. Smoothing appliance 37. Distinctive flair 39. Stomata, sing.

40. Burlap fiber 41. Archeologist’s find 43. Estimated arrivals 44. Discompose 46. Cobbler’s concern 47. Merlin or Gandalf 48. *B in RBI 50. Close by 52. Spade for stony ground 53. Karl of politics 55. Between ready and go 57. *Left, center or right one 61. *Yankees’ only #4 64. Blast from the past 65. Crew tool

12. Water source 15. Bacchus’ attendants 20. Weasel’s aquatic cousin 22. *Baseball trajectory 24. Diver’s edible reward 25. Muslim woman’s headscarf 26. Caribbean island DOWN destination 1. *Eat a hot one at the 27. Gained access to (2 game words) 2. Copycat 29. Hoppy beers 3. *Number of standard 31. Individual unit baseball positions 32. Bottom line 4. Miss Muffet’s meal 33. Idealized image 5. Vomiting 34. *Katie ____ or “____ 6. Highest point at the Bat” 7. *Scoring unit 36. Empty when kids leave 8. Annapolis frosh 38. World’s longest river 9. Tulip’s early stage 42. Cut it out 10. Capital of Latvia 45. Moved a flock of 11. Et alibi (2 words) sheep 67. Helped 69. ____ one’s time, past tense 70. Schiller’s poem 71. Express contempt 72. What Simon does 73. Cut grass 74. Intoxicating

49. Certain John’s or Jane’s last name 51. Re-use old ideas 54. Car sound, to a toddler 56. Trinity 57. Small door-opening devices 58. One of the hipbones, pl.

59. Whirlpool 60. “Big Little ____” 61. What Jack’s beanstalk did 62. It comes to mind 63. Turned to the right, like a horse 66. Commotion or fuss 68. Wine quality © Statepoint Media

Answers on 31 »

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 25

Three Spring Festivals & Saving Forces

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Esoteric Astrology • Mid-March 2021 • By Risa D’Angeles

ach spring, at the three spring full moon festivals (Aries, Taurus, Gemini), three extra-planetary forces stream into the Earth to assist humanity especially during times of crisis (a time we are in now). These Three Forces are the Forces of Restoration (Aries, restoring humanity’s psychological well-being), Enlightenment (Taurus/Wesak, helping humanity to see clearly) and Reconstruction (Gemini, ushering in a new creative activity for a waiting world). These Forces began to stream into humanity after the devastation wrought on humanity during WW2.

We have much in common now with the WW2 aftermath — fatigue, continual warfare, confusion, death, etc. It is even a larger menace now for the “killing” occurring is the mind of humanity. Then as is now, the battle was/is between the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness. It is thus most important this year, 2021 (year of choice), to know about these Three Saving Forces.

We are continuing the phase of the old ways breaking down, ARIES

It’s best to be careful when out and about. You’re experiencing the energies of Pisces, which means one can be a bit confused when in the midst of crowds for any length of time. It’s best to be reflective, solitary, and with only a few people who understand (astrology) and support your many endeavors. Dreams and visions are important now. What are your visions for the future and how/where do you see yourself in the coming years?

TAURUS

making way for the new Aquarian era/Age. Everything is changing under the new sign, planets and Rays. It is a cosmic change of seasons thus calling for new responses. An entirely new vibrational field is being formed on our planet, electrical in nature. We are shifting from the Age of devotion (Pisces) to the Age of Knowledge (Aquarius), from belief to intelligence and intuition, from ignorance, speculation and opinion to the Rain Cloud of Knowable Things. This shift is not easy. Life is not as it was anymore and never will be again.

At each new age, new directions are given.

For the Aquarian Age, these are the New Laws and Principles. They help us navigate this new era of Aquarius, whose foundational language and tool is astrology. So, during this interim time of transition from one Age to the next, two paths are seen. One left, one right, one bright and shiny, twinkling our future, the other dark hiding under a false light. It is humanity’s test of discernment. And so, all around us, each day, humanity chooses.

LEO

A reorientation is taking place in your life creating a state of transformation. You are often so hidden behind multiple veils. All that you have cultivated as talents, gifts and abilities will be called forth in the times to come.

Are people, cultures, journeys or geographies calling to you from a distance. Your response will change your life forever. Enter into the deeper mysteries. The temple door has opened.

VIRGO

SAGITTARIUS

Know that your well-being is intact no matter how you feel or sense things to be. No matter what you think your financial situation is, there are realistic new resources and avenues available so you can rest easy and not enter into states of unease, unreality or feelings of lack. Nothing needs doing. You are supported by all the energies in the heavens. Turn to others and also offer them this support. Your supply then becomes limitless. Saturn will see to it.

CAPRICORN

Each day you enter a dream state, a place where your creativity is activated and you help to prepare us for a future world of safety and survival. You attempt to share this with others but so often people become impatient. You stand solitary in your knowledge knowing it’s your responsibility to bring forth the resources (land) needed to create the new world era. Everyone around you has their own gift to bring forth. You recognize them.

Then they do too.

Signs in opposition, like Virgo and Pisces, create an interplay of the known and the unknown, ups and downs, here and there, etc. until the two, alarmed by each other, finally accept, integrate, fuse, blend, synthesize and make peace together. All the sign must do this with their opposites. With Sun, Venus and Neptune in Pisces and Mars in Gemini, synthesis can occur. Virgo is the sign of service preparing for the saving quality in Pisces. The two of you are one.

You may be called to express yourself in ways that could upend people’s belief systems. We live in a Ray 4 reality. Ray 4 is the new harmony emerging from chaos and conflict. You always attempt to express new ideas with compassion, clarity, sensitivity and kindness. When finding yourself in difficulty with another, do the following. Visualize a line of light from your heart to their heart, your Soul to their Soul (5-pointed star above our heads). Then the Soul, which is love, takes over.

Leaving you free. What’s blooming where you are?

GEMINI

LIBRA

AQUARIUS

Where are you and what are you doing each day? Who do relate to and what are you reading? What are your future plans and are you following circadian rhythms? What are you hoping for and what do you need? Can you answer these questions? Your answers are like a preliminary resume to join a spiritual group, ashram, community. All answers are correct. We’d like to get to know you more.

What meadows are you in these days? What flowers are blooming?

You may feel exhausted when confronted with the present state of more work than usual. You may also feel a wounding that is difficult to express.

There’s a purpose to that wounding. It provides us with the needed compassion for others, which is a healing. It’s challenging to have the courage to clearly articulate your wound without judgment and blame. Wounds become life tools. They balance us and love us.

CANCER

If you surrender completely to your creativity, you will be rewarded with an expansion of gifts you did not know existed. Creativity for you works under the inspiration of aspiration and vision, which then summons the essential beauty which all forms veil. You are to bring forth this revelatory essence of beauty. It is what underlies your life-purposes, which motivates your life’s events, past, present and future. Do you understand this?

•••

SCORPIO

Are you considering a journey soon? Have your thoughts and perceptions changed? Do you find fearful or angry or aggressive thoughts in your mind and do you feel guilty or righteous about them? It seems essential that your home be clean, well lit, ordered and organized. Even if little gets accomplished, do one kind action each day. A greenhouse, a pergola, and car and/or a boat (for you or another) are good items to invest in.

You’ve returned to a place where you again ask the questions, “Why am I here, what is here that supports me, where is my home and where do I go from here?” At times you wonder if there are enough resources to support your visions. You dream of home, land, gardens, chickens, lots of friends, family, the arts and community.

Keep visualizing, keep dreaming. Do only what you love. Simultaneously, serve others, supporting their well-being, security, and self-esteem. All that is given is returned one-hundred-fold.

Risa D’Angeles • www.nightlightnews.org • risagoodwill@gmail.com 26 / March 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com

PISCES

All Pisces, during Pisces turn inwards deep within themselves.

This happens naturally with Sun, Venus and Neptune in Pisces. Neptune in Pisces will continue for the next four years, until March 30, 2025 (year of the Precipitation), when Neptune enters Aries. A subtle change and refinement of life will take place till then, allowing for greater wisdom, work and accomplishments that may seem like miracles. They are your visions and tasks this lifetime coming into manifestation.

Maintain faith, patience and serenity at all times.

“PVUSD Q&A” from page 23 Based on the needs of an individual class, the teacher will identify how to best use the in-person instructional time and then identify how to group student cohorts most effectively according to the goals of the in-person time.

Just curious. Does the Coronavirus not exist between the hours of 1 to 2:30? Why can’t we just go back already? Hybrid model, to me, is a few days a week and actually doing class at school not at home. One and a half hours after class? e established the afternoon schedule to maintain three key priorities: 1) maintain current teacher and schedule for students, 2) increase instructional time with teachers by providing additional in-person instruction and 3) ensure families have the option to remain in distance learning with their current teacher.

The afternoon schedule allows us to accomplish those priorities as well as limit possible transmission during unmasked eating time within the schools.

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Thanks for working to get our kids back in school. They really need it for their mental health but I’m very worried as no one in our house is vaccinated yet. We all know by now that wearing masks is one of the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19. We also know that it needs to be ALL parties wearing a mask, especially the person with COVID-19 even if they are asymptomatic and don’t even know it.

We have also seen people out in the community who don’t wear their masks properly. How will masking be enforced? Will students be required to have their masks fit properly and up over their noses? Will you require a certain type of mask? How about double masking as that is now being recommended, particularly in light of all the new variants? ortunately, most school districts that are in session have seen compliance of their students wearing masks while attending in person instruction.

With proper training and awareness, we believe our students will follow all masking guidelines as required. To ensure that all students are wearing their masks properly, we will be releasing expectation videos as well as safety training materials for students prior to their return to the site.

While most students have their own PPE that they may use, PVUSD will also provide required PPE in accordance with CDPH guidance. Current CDPH guidelines define a face covering as “a material that covers the nose and mouth. It can be secured to the head with ties or straps or simply wrapped around the lower face. It can be made of a variety of materials, such as cotton, silk, or linen.

A cloth face covering may be factory made or sewn by hand or can be improvised from household items such as scarfs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, or towels.”

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“PVUSD Q&A” page 27

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Eliminate ‘Selling’ & Focus On Helping Customers

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By Ron Kustek

e’ve all heard people say products are “flying off the shelf” or that “it sells itself.” For those of us involved in any small business on a daily basis, we know these sayings just aren’t true.

Whether you’re selling coffee or clothing, you likely have daily targets for sales that you’d like to reach or exceed. And though sales is the result, the No. 1 focus of every owner, manager and employee should be on helping customers.

Selling is a little like dating — there are lots of choices out there for people, so why should they choose you — i.e., your service or product? You may have the best “X” with the highest quality backed by the greatest service at the most competitive price — but what if that’s not different enough, or what if it’s not what the customer wants or needs?

Sometimes helping customers takes practice. We’ve all been in situations where a well-intentioned sales person starts telling us all about something that they’re excited about or what they are interested in.

They go on about why we should buy it, how it will make us feel or look — all the while not even knowing if we either want or need the item, which we may have just casually glanced at or picked off the shelf to look at for some reason.

I like to eliminate the word “selling” and instead replace it with “helping.” And part of helping is learning what your customers actually need help with — is it a decision based on price or convenience, or are they looking to take a selfie with an item that will get them likes?

The more we ask questions that help to uncover what a potential customer is in the mood for or actually looking for, the greater the likelihood that you’ll be able to help them with their purchase.

People who go to a restaurant are obviously hungry — but how hungry are they? If we only ask some questions with a smile, like how hungry they are or what they’re in the mood for, or even if they’ve been here before and had a favorite dish — it gives us more information than walking up to a table and blandly asking “how can I help you?”

We may be able to help them experience a new dish, or an additional appetizer, or desert, or, iced tea instead of tap water — all higher-margin items that help the restaurant reach its daily goals.

You may be answering the phone at a spa that offers massage and facials. Asking the person on the other line a few helpful questions about what they’re wanting to experience may uncover that they’re now considering making a visit to your location more of an event, more of a special occasion, or perhaps a celebration.

Engaging with them on the phone to ask if they want to bring a friend along where they could get a couples massage together in the same room — just doubled your purchase transaction, and more importantly, helped the person with more of an experience that they’ll be looking forward to and talking about long after they’ve enjoyed the day at your spa.

And make sure you’re keeping an up-to-date database on each of your customers. If you already have every sales transaction linked to a customer, based on what they bought and when, then you’re on your way! If you need a program that helps you capture this information so you can run reports as well as reach out to your customers via email or text, consider SQUARE. This company provides extremely competitive credit

PVUSD will provide an initial distribution of 2-3 reusable cloth masks per each student. There will be disposable masks available when needed at school or on the bus to replace or provide additional masks as needed. We will also distribute one face shield per elementary student for school use with a face covering.

Students can use a combination of the disposable masks and cloth masks for double masking if you so choose.

pre-register for their vaccines. After they fill out the Google form, they will be sent the pre-registration link, which will begin the process for them to set up their vaccine appointments.

If substitutes have already received their vaccine or received an email from the County Office of Education to schedule their appointment they do not need to use the PVUSD Google form.

Substitutes can contact Brian Saxton in Human Resources at 786-2145 if they have additional questions.

When will substitute teachers be vaccinated?

I’ve committed to a long term in person but will have to cancel if I can’t get at least my first dose of vaccine. Why are subs so delayed if some will be on the job and in person? ll substitutes will receive a Google form by 5 p.m. March 5 to sign up to

Why can’t school reopenings happen on a case by case basis? PVUSD says the reason for delaying schools is because the district has 52% of you should consider going further into localities. Aptos is a smaller community than Watsonville and COVID

“PVUSD Q&A” from page 26

A

Open Aptos first?

card transaction processing and mobile payment apps, plus for an additional low monthly fee, provides easy to understand customer management tools for you to analyze sales, repeat customers, lapsed customers, promotional responses and even more! Contact SQUARE at 855-7006000 or online at www.SquareUp.com The point is, unless everyone in your business is focused on learning more about your customers by actually talking with them and truly listening to what they’re saying and telling you, then you’re not optimizing each and every opportunity to truly help someone or provide the best customer experience, as both will help you reach your #1 priority: Sales — the result of listening to and focusing on the customer! n ••• Ron Kustek is a former senior marketing executive of The Coca-Cola Co. and serial-entrepreneur who is currently a business instructor at Cabrillo College. Contact him at RoKustek@Cabrillo.edu

cases are likely to be the lowest in the entire county. So why not start in-person schooling at schools located in Aptos? It will also allow PVUSD to get the necessary experience before opening some of the larger schools in the district. hile there are varying case rate levels within our District boundaries, we do have both staff and students moving throughout the District who live and are transported on buses within high case rate areas in both Santa Cruz and Monterey County.

For example, Aptos High School serves 759 (55%) students who live outside of Aptos but within the Watsonville area. Valencia Elementary serves 167 (35%) students who live outside of Aptos but within the Watsonville area. At the same time, we have 1,414 students living in Monterey County, which currently has a higher case rate than Santa Cruz County.

W

For this reason, we look at the combined case rate throughout the District to determine when the District as a whole will return to in person instruction.

What are the chances of opening fully in the Fall? Our family needs to make a decision ASAP regarding private school if PVUSD isn’t going to be open full time. ith the promise of the vaccinations for the community which should continue to decrease the case rate, we are hopeful that we will reach the yellow tier and be able to bring all students back full time without the hybrid model due to the removal of the required 6-foot distancing.

We should know more about the trajectories of case and vaccination rates by mid-May and be able to message more out to the community about future plans. n

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www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 27

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

ANNOUNCEMENTS

GARDENERS CLUB The Gardeners’ Club is looking for people who share their love of plants and want to know more about gardening.

The website is at http://www.thegardenersclub.org/ and there is a monthly newsletter.

Dues are $15 per calendar year. For information call Cherry at 831-475-0991.

Make check to “The Gardeners’ Club” and mail to P.O. Box 3025, Ben Lomond, CA 95005. Meetings, when they are allowed, are at 7 p.m. on the 2nd Thursday of each month at the Aptos Grange, 2555 Mar Vista Drive, Aptos.

OPEN STUDIOS APPLICATION DEADLINE Friday, April 30, Midnight Arts Council Santa Cruz County is making plans for the 2021 Open Studios Art Tour following guidelines for health and safety. The dates are: South County Oct 2-3, North County Oct 9-10, and all county Oct 16-17.

All Santa Cruz County visual artists over age 18 are invited to apply to be a part of this event where local artists invite the public to experience art at the source.

The deadline to apply is midnight, April 30.

Open Studios & Events Director Ann Ostermann will host drop-in sessions via Zoom on March 23, April 3 and April 15 to assist artists in applying. For details, guidelines and FAQ, see https://santacruzopenstudios.com/

got more than 900 “likes.”

Salad ingredients include avocado, shredded beets, goat cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese, toasted pecans, chickpeas, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, and almond slivers in a variety of combinations. Some come with seared sesame-crusted tuna, roasted organic chicken or current-activities/.

Recent presentations included talks about preventative sliced steak. Small salads range from $7-11 and large care for dogs and cats, an update from the Scotts Valley salads $11-16.

Water District, goal setting, trusts and estate planning, For a menu, see https://sites.google.com/view/softopening. To COVID-19, genealogy, Scotts Valley history and Santa order online and schedule pickup, see https://www.toasttab. com/soulsalad/v3 Cruz history.

To contact Soul Salad, email aptossalad@gmail.com or call To participate, you need an Internet connection and 831-708-2106. a computer, tablet or smartphone. A one-time preregistration is required at https://tinyurl.com/SVSLA-5.

Thursday March 18 Questions? Call George at (831) 334-7763.

Senior Life Online is sponsored by Scotts Valley Senior Life APTOS CHAMBER VIRTUAL LUNCH MEETING Association (SVSLA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is Noon-1 p.m., Zoom to promote healthy living for senior citizens. Information is at Casa de Fruta partner Gene Zanger will speak at the http://scottsvalleyseniorlife.org.

Aptos Chamber of Commerce virtual lunch meeting on Zoom. For link, RSVP at: https://docs.google.com/form Third Thursday of the Month s/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6x9UOIM9SsOeJUbRPSz6729L2oXPET LOSS AND GRIEF SUPPORT VIA ZOOM FABkNakziz3LhAGBcFA/viewform 6 to 7:30 p.m., virtual meeting Cost: $15 general/ $10 members/free for Premier and Grand BirchBark Foundation’s Pet Loss and Grief Support Zoom Champion members. group offers a free support group, moderated by a licensed grief counseling therapist, on the third Thursday of each month.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LECTURE Register at https://www.birchbarkfoundation.org/griefsupport 7 p.m., Mt. Madonna School Public Lecture Series Online or call 831-471-7255.

The next in Mount Madonna School’s public lecture series based on the United Nations Sustainable DevelFourth Thursday of the Month opment Goals will be “American Democracy, American PARENT SUPPORT GROUP Racism,” featuring 1993 alum Laxmi Wordham.

PVUSD, PVPSA and Kaiser Permanente offers support She is a founding member of the Leadership groups for Pajaro Valley families at 3 p.m. on the fourth Now Project, begun in 2017 by Harvard Business Thursday of the month. The next dates are: School alumni, which has added members in six March 25: Meeting ID: 885 0351 4197 Password: cities. Leadership Now activates the networks of its 308147 https://tinyurl.com/y26ablzk members, promotes ranked-choice voting, collaboApril 29, May 20 and June 3. To register, email rates with democracy organizations and mobilizes marisol.maciel@pvpsa.org investments in reform organizations like OpenSecrets, and encourages companies to pull advertising First and Third Sunday dollars from platforms that spurred the Jan. 6 attack MAKERS’ MARKET on the Capitol.

First Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 2801 Mission St., Santa Cruz Formerly chief digital officer at The Michael J. Fox Third Sunday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz Foundation, she is co-founder of Hylofit, a health and (Between Cathcart & Lincoln) wellness technology startup in the equestrian industry.

Santa Cruz Mountains Makers Market is returning! The market Wordham’s lecture relates to Goal 16: Peace, Justice is held every first Sunday outside the Wrigley Building and and Strong Institutions. every third Sunday on Pacific Avenue (Downtown Santa Cruz).

All the events in the monthly series are via Zoom. Tickets are The Wrigley market features vintage and handmade art, food and drink. The Downtown market features over 30 local artists by donation, and can be ordered at sdgspeakerseries.org. and makers.

There is no charge to attend the market. The Wrigley Market will Friday March 19 open the following week if delayed for rain, weather permitting.

MR. Z’S CREPES RIBBON CUTTING Visit http://scmmakersmarket.com for more information.

Noon, 7518 Soquel Drive, next to Aptos Food.

Available thru Sunday March 28 Rocky and Ru Patel, owners of Mr. Z’s Crepes and Teas, will host a ribbon cutting with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.

DATED EVENTS They serve sweet and savory crêpes, boba tea and açaí Wednesday March 17 bowls. This is their second location; the first is at the Watsonville Hangar, 45 Aviation Way. COASTAL OAK INTERIORS RIBBON CUTTING Crepes made fresh to order are $7-13, açaí bowls $10, Noon, 7960 Soquel Dr., Ste D, Aptos Misty Mitchell, owner of Coastal Oak Interiors, will host smoothies and lattes $5-6 and teas $4-6. Gluten-free a ribbon-cutting with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce and dairy-free options are available.

The menu, which is the same at both locations, is at https:// at her new store in Aptos Village Square. mrzsteas.com/ Also look for the launching of the store’s website: www.

Have a virtual or live event you want to promote?

Send your information to info@cyber-times.com by March 22 cooking, tech and support groups to seniors age 60 and up in their homes at no cost. To participate, you need an internet connection and a computer, tablet or smartphone.

To participate, view the calendar at https://communitybridges.org/ SCWOL/ and find a class. That day and time, click on the link in the calendar to be connected. If you have a problem connecting, call Clara Munoz at (831) 458-3481.

SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK DRIVE-IN MOVIES SCHEDULE Saturdays in March X-Men (2000) — Mar. 20, 8 p.m.

Austin Powers: Int’l Man of Mystery — Mar. 27, 8 p.m.

Cost $35 per vehicle.

Visit https://beachboardwalk.com/Drive-In-Movies for details and restrictions CINEMA CHAMINADE MOVIES IN MARCH Drive-up the hill to Chaminade Resort & Spa, 1 Chaminade Lane, Santa Cruz, for a bottle of wine, delicious bites and free showings of classic flicks at 6 p.m. Seating is limited; seating begins at 5 p.m., first come, first served. Food and beverage will be available for purchase; no outside food or beverages are allowed. The schedule: • March 24: Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark • March 31: Night at the Museum

SECOND HARVEST FOOD DISTRIBUTION Fridays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

BUSINESS CLASSES ONLINE Second Harvest Food Bank drive-through food March and April distribution schedule: Gavilan College and El Pajaro Community Development Watsonville: Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Corp. are partnering to offer free online business classes March 19 • April 2 in Spanish. The class is open to Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk residents.

March 26 The classes are 10-week training sessions that include Food hotline: 831-662-0991. business planning and 10 hours with a business advisor and will be from 9-11:50 a.m. Saturdays. If interested, ROADMAP TO RECOVERY VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS you can enroll in: Entrepreneurship (BUS 700 40840), Nonprofit United Policyholders is hosting virtual workMarch 13- April 17, 2021, or Small Business Ownership shops for wildfire survivors. The following workshops (BUS 701 40841), April 24-May 22. are scheduled: For information, call Gavilan College Continuing Education Thursday March 25 • 5:30 p.m. at (408) 465-9520 or call El Pajaro Community Development Q&A on Financial Decision-making and Tax ImplicaCorporation at (831) 722-1224. tions After a Wildfire.

To register for any of these events see: www.uphelp.org/r2r RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES March is Red Cross Month, and the Red Cross is CAREER MONTH AT CABRILLO thanking donors for stepping up to meet the constant Four free job fairs are available for current students at Cabrillo need for blood amid the pandemic. All who come to give March 15-26 will receive a Red Cross T-shirt while College in the month of April. The fairs take place from 3-5 p.m. four Thurs. starting April 8. Registration is required. supplies last.

April 8 — global & human studies All blood types are needed, especially Type O. Donors April 15 — entrepreneur, business & creative must be 17 and weigh at least 110 pounds.

April 22 — health & public safety To make an appointment, download the American Red April 29 — science tech engineering math Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org, call There are also four resume workshops on April 6, 12, 19 and 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enable the 27 and four career coaching classes on April 7, 16, 20 and 26.

Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

Students can register and employers can post jobs at https:// Dates: www.cabrillo.edu/career-services/ March 17: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 220 Elk St., Santa Cruz.

March 23: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., The Church of Jesus ONGOING EVENTS Christ of Latter-day Saints, 220 Elk St., Santa Cruz.

March 26: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Community Health Trust First and Third Monday Each Month SENIOR LIFE ONLINE of Pajaro Valley, 85 Nielson St., Watsonville.

March 30: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Hotel Paradox, 611 Ocean 4 p.m., Online Meeting Join a local group of senior citizens for “Senior Life St., Santa Cruz.

Online,” a free online (Zoom) program featuring a presentation by a local expert. Senior Life Online meets SENIOR CENTER WITHOUT LIMITS on the first and third Monday of each month at 4 p.m.

This new program from Community Bridges brings View the schedule at http://scottsvalleyseniorlife.org/ enrichment activities like yoga, art, music, tai chi, 28 / March 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com

CoastalOakInteriors.com

Saturday March 20

SOUL SALAD RIBBON CUTTING 12:30 p.m., 7957 Soquel Drive, across from Aptos Village Square Jeff Hickey, owner of Soul Salad, a new lunch spot featuring 100% organic produce, will host a ribbon cutting with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.

He announced a “soft opening” on Facebook with hours from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and

21-DAY FOOD CHALLENGE KICKOFF 11:30 a.m., Homeless Garden Project Virtual Party The Homeless Garden Project will host a virtual kickoff for the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Food Challenge, featuring remarks from U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, performances from Senderos and a presentation by Challenge organizers Curtis Ogden and Karen Spiller of Food Solutions New England.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR Sunday March 28

Homeless Garden Project, in their first year partnering with the Challenge, invites community participation.

The Challenge, in its 7th year, consists of short email prompts delivered each morning from April 5-25 to give individuals and organizations an opportunity to understand issues of land access, health and hunger in the American food system.

Last year, the Challenge reached 7,000 participants in all 50 states.

To register visit: https://bit.ly/HGP21Day 11TH ANNUAL SHE.IS.BEAUTIFUL SANTA CRUZ 5K, 10K & HALF MARATHON Virtual or Touchless Race information available via registration Founded by Melissa McConville, the She.is.beautiful race started with 500 women in Santa Cruz and has grown to 6,000. This year’s events offer options for COVID safety. She.is.beautiful’s local charity partner is Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center.

The Santa Cruz Half Marathon and SIB Challenge events are sold out. Registration is still open for the 5k and 10k races.

Virtual Race Week is Monday, March 15-Sunday, March 21, with the Touchless Santa Cruz Experience March 18-21.

The difference between the Virtual and the Touchless race options is that for the Virtual you can participate anywhere in the world and your swag pack is sent to you, and the Touchless option means you will come to Santa Cruz, pick up your swag bag and participate on the actual race course during race week. The Touchless option includes a Passport to Santa Cruz where you can redeem free items at businesses all over town (coffee, pedicures, cookies, beer and wine, and plants).

Virtual Live Race will take place Saturday, March 20, with all levels welcome. Register at https://runsheisbeautiful.com/

VALLEY WOMEN’S CLUB ANNUAL MEETING 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 28 The Valley Women’s Club will have its annual meeting online this year due to the pandemic. View at valleywomensclub.org

Tuesday March 30 DEFENSIBLE SPACE WEBINAR 6 -7 p.m., Facebook Live Stream or Zoom Meeting.

FireSafe Marin County presents a free Webinar: “Creating Defensible Space: Zones 1, 2, & 3” From March 30 Join on Facebook live stream or via Zoom here: https://firesafemarin.zoom.us/j/87382415962 Or by telephone: 1 669 900 9128 Webinar ID: 873 8241 5962 Future topics in this monthly series are landscaping, environmental best practices and fire insurance and pet evacuation.

BEES, WASPS, HONEY AND HIVES Saturday March 27 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Pacific Grove Museum Science Saturday online Pacific Grove Museum Science Saturday presents Bees, Wasps, Honey and Hives.

Do all bees make honey? How do you tell a wasp from a bee? Do all bees sting? Find the answers as you complete a craft, and learn about some of the most important local pollinators.

Videos will be uploaded at https://www.pgmuseum.org/museum-events/2021/3/27/science-saturday-bees-waspshoney-and-hives

Wednesday March 24

When, where and how frequently the river breaches affect the water quality and temperature of the lagoon, BRANDENBURG CONCERTO which impacts steelhead trout and also potential for 300TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION flooding. Understanding these systems is important for Monterey will host a worldwide celebration of the 300th resource managers and planners considering intervenanniversary of the Brandenburg Concerto, a JS Bach tions like mechanical breaching. masterpiece, with two Livestreams – one at 2 to 3:30 p.m., This is part of the yearlong virtual series, and the second at 7 to 8:30 p.m. on March 24 via Zoom.

Hardcore Natural History, addressing science This celebration is sponsored by the Osher Lifelong behind current issues. Audience members must Learning Institute and the Music and Performing Arts register online at https://tinyurl.com/PGMNHDepartment at CSU Monterey Bay. learn-beaches by 5 p.m. the day of the event to get It’s all completely free – a gift to the world from Mon- a Zoom link to the webinar. terey, California, to honor one of the most significant Admission is free, but the suggested donation is $15 per Saturday March 20 pieces of music ever written. person.

Saturday March 27 The Brandenburg is a significant part of Monterey County’s cultural history – the Carmel Bach Festival, ADU DESIGN CLASS Friday March 26 starting in its second year (1936), played all or part of it 10 a.m.-Noon, Cabrillo College Online CINDERACULA MOVIE PREMIERE every year for 21 years, and dozens of times since.

Architect Jamileh Cannon, co-owner of Santa Cruz 8 p.m., Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Drive-In, 400 Beach St., Zoom Links design company Workbench, will lead a two-session Santa Cruz March 24, 2 p.m.

Showing: https://csumb.zoom. class on building an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) The Little People’s Repertory Theatre of Ben Lomond, us/j/85276768706 on your property. The class will be held via Zoom for pivoting in the pandemic, will present “Cinderacula and March 24, 7 p.m. Showing: https://csumb.zoom.

Cabrillo College Extension.

The Campaign of Unfortunate Events,” an original film us/j/88080717562 The class will cover: How to determine ADU feasibility For information, or to register (optional) go to https://branden- written by Janine Chadwick. on your property, the process for designing and building burgconcerto300thanniversary.com Filmed in quarantine pods, tapping Eli Triona as an ADU, rough costs for different sizes, building on a a graphic designer and Andrew Crocker of Crocker slope, cost of utilities, different costs by city/region, Creations as cinematographer, the movie was directed Thursday March 25 water meter fees, how to save money during design and

by Jocelyn McMahon-Babalis, with technical director SANTA MARGARITA Michael Lauren, musical direction by Gabe House, and construction, timeframe, how a loan can be used for GROUNDWATER AGENCY MEETING choreography by Sadie Rose. construction, and payoff time, and common pitfalls.

5:30-8:30 p.m., online The story features Cinderella running for vice The fee is $65. Register at Cabrillo.edu/extension.

The Santa Margarita Groundwater Agency is seeking president, a family of vampires spreading their applications for an alternate well owner representative, curse to the citizens of Transylvania, and a prince Monday March 22 which will be discussed at the meeting. Applications for who wants to be elected president by free and fair the job are due by 5 p.m. Monday, March 15. View the SPRING GARDEN PESTS elections. meeting and/or apply online at smgwa.org 5–6:30 p.m., UC Master Gardeners of Monterey and Santa The parking lot opens at 7 p.m.; tickets are $25 and limited to The agency was formed to prepare a groundwater sustainability 130 cars and must be purchased online at LPRT.org. ConcesCruz Counties Online Spring is the time to set out tender seedlings and plant plan for Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley, which must be sions will be available for purchase before the movie begins. sprouting seeds that can be quickly decimated by slugs, submitted to the state by January 2022.

Saturday March 27 snails and birds. Gophers are especially active in spring, TALK: LEARN FROM BEACHES their breeding season, looking for roots to nibble and BOARDWALK OPEN AIR MARKET 6 p.m., Hardcore Natural History virtual series pull whole plants underground.

11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History presents a Using the Integrated Pest Management approach, virtual talk by Dr. Mara Orescanin, an assistant professor The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk plans an Open Air UC Master Gardeners Delise Weir & Trink Praxel will Market 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdarday, March 27, of oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School on discuss methods to prevent damage before it happens with ocean views and shopping at up to 30 local “Connections Between Land and Sea: What We Can and minimize the damage after an attack. artisan and direct sales booths. Face masks will be Learn From Our Beaches.” required.

UC Master Gardeners of Monterey and Santa Cruz At Carmel River State Beach, sand builds up in the Counties offers free and low-cost gardening classes, summer isolating the lagoon. In winter, high flow in the If you are a local artist, maker or business, apply for a booth at https://beachboardwalk.com/ serving Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. Carmel River can breach the lagoon. Where and when Cost: Free, Donations accepted the water will breach changes year to year and is variable Open-Air-Market?utm_source=Email&utm_ medium=Email&utm_campaign=Open%20Air%20Market For further information and to register, visit mbmg.ucanr.edu. within the same season.

Tuesday April 6 WALLACE STEGNER LECTURES*: JOSÉ ANDRÉS 7 p.m., Online Lecture Chef, restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés will appear in conversation with Bay Area food personality Jesse Ziff Cool to discuss his work as founder of World Central Kitchen, helping to feed those in need throughout the course of the pandemic.

Andrés is a Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning Spanish-American chef, as well as the author of three cookbooks and José Andrés the New York Times best-selling We Fed an Island, which describes how Andrés and his team cooked for thousands of hungry people in Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Andrés advocates for sustainability in the restaurant industry. https://openspacetrust.org/wsl-2021/ ••• *Cost for the Wallace Stegner Lecture Series is $30. The price gives you access to four lectures, plus the ability to watch recordings until April 30. This includes January’s Dolores Huerta & Luis Valdez and April’s José Andrés ectures.

Saturday April 10

PROPERTY TAX DEADLINE 5 p.m.

The second installment of your tax bill is due Feb. 1 and becomes delinquent after 5 p.m. with penalties if not received by the Santa Cruz County Tax Collector by that date and time.

Drop boxes for checks are available at the county Governmental Center, 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.

Sunday April 11 PRESCRIBED BURN WORKSHOPS 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Davenport • Registration due by April 4.

Learn the fundamentals of prescribed firelighting and wildland firefighting during this hands-on field training in Davenport.

Training will cover fireline construction, communications, prescribed fire ignitions, operation of a firefighting pump, installation of a hose-lay and more.

You will be prepared to participate in local cooperative burns hosted by the new Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association (calpba.org). If you do not have wildfire or prescribed fire experience, the one-day workshop will be a prerequisite for participation in future CCPBA burns so don’t miss out.

The training can certify you as a Basic Wildland Firefighter 2, with pre-completion of online coursework plus an “arduous pack-test” prior to attending the in-person field day if you are interested.

Cost: $20 with scholarships available upon request. Space is limited.

Full Details and Registration at: https://ucanr.edu/survey/ survey.cfm?surveynumber=33128.

For questions email Jared Childress (childress.ember@gmail. com) or Devii Rao (drorao@ucanr.edu). n

www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 29

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Cost to Build Accessory Dwelling Unit? Online Toolkit Can Help

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hroughout California there are ongoing discussions about how to address the significant affordable housing crisis. Locally, the cost of living is a significant factor in rates of homelessness and housing insecurity.

Rents and home prices in our county continue to increase and many have shared stories about the difficulty in obtaining or maintaining affordable housing in our area.

Many in Santa Cruz County work multiple jobs to pay rent, local seniors struggle to stay in their homes and kids and grandkids grow up here just to move away after high school or college to find less expensive housing.

While there isn’t one simple solution to reducing housing costs one promising approach is to increase the number of accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

The state (and many local communities) have been working to provide incentives for increased ADU construction.

Recently, the Board of Supervisors took an additional step toward making it easier for homeowners to construct an ADU. Building upon the successful online interactive toolkit on the County Planning Department’s website, which makes it easier for homeowners to design, permit and construct accessory dwelling

Pre-approved plans, once available, will provide residents with another expedited option for ADU construction.

By Zach Friend, Supervisor, Second District

units, the Board moved to work with County Planning to incorporate a set of pre-approved ADU plans on the Planning Department’s website.

These sets of pre-approved plans, once available, will provide residents with another expedited option for ADU construction. The goal is to allow residents to use the interactive online toolkit to get an idea of what size and scope is possible on your parcel and then to even choose a pre-approved set of plans from the County to greatly reduce cost and time associated with design and permitting.

Over the last few years the Board of Supervisors has reduced (and in some cases eliminated) permitting fees, streamlined the permit process and created a forgivable loan program (that could cover the cost of fees and even construction in some cases) for units that are deed restricted affordable housing ADUs. This most recent action, which the County hopes to have available in fall, would streamline the process even further.

ADUs, sometimes called granny units or companion units, are one of the quickest and easiest ways to increase the affordable housing stock in our area. For parents looking to age in place in their homes, they can construct an ADU to live in while providing the main house to their family.

For people looking to obtain some income while renting a unit that is affordable by design (meaning the rents are generally lower than apartment complexes or condos of similar size) an ADU provides options that meets both of these needs.

The Board of Supervisors put in rules to prevent these ADUs from becoming short-term rentals (vacation rentals) so that these new units would really provide for a new long-term rental option for people in our community.

30 / March 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com

What does the online ADU toolkit provide?

Available at www.sccoplanning. com/ADU, the toolkit includes an overview of revised regulations designed to make it easier to build ADUs, a cost and cash flow estimator, guides and FAQs about design, construction and financing, and more.

It also includes a mapping tool allowing property owners to instantaneously determine if their property can have an ADU and the maximum allowed size.

The ADU toolkit is designed to give residents curious about ADUs easy

answers to the County’s simplified and streamlined construction process.

Under the new program, most residential lots in the unincorporated area with an existing single-family home are potentially eligible for an ADU. The County has also created simplified, downloadable guides on ADU Basics, an ADU Design Guide, and an ADU Financing Guide.

Collectively, the guides provide answers to many common questions without requiring a trip to the County’s Planning Department. n ••• As always, if you have questions please feel free to reach out to me at 454-2200.

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SCCAS Featured Pet

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Many Reasons for Rotating Vegetables

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L

Nathan the Cat

crossword on 25 »

adies and gentleman, step right up! It’s Nathan (A279351) here, the luckiest black male cat on the west coast! Why? Because I’m chilling at the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter of course! Ok, but seriously, why do us black cats get such a bad scratch? I mean, I’ve got a biscuit to pick! It’s not all witches, pumpkins, and spooky tails. We can be pretty awesome too!

For instance, I, Nathan of the Night (chose it myself) am fun loving, playful, cuddly, and compact. All that at just one year old! What’s not to love? I play just as hard as I relax, and I’m into whatever you’re into! Tossing around toys? I’m down!

Lounging with Netflix? Lets go! Scratches on the head? You betcha! Just say the word and I’m your perfect little shadow!

So make me the luckiest black cat you know, and bring me home today! You can email Jill at jillian.ganley@santacruzcounty.us to set up an appointment.

Adoptions are first come, first served! Please view available animals on our website and then visit the Shelter to turn in your application. All adoptions require proof of home ownership or landlord approval. Please have this information prepared. If an animal is in Foster Care, please bring in your adoption application and schedule an appointment to meet the animal. Call 831-454-7200 x0 during business hours or visit www.scanimalshelter.org for more information! n ••• Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter’s full-service, open-admission shelter: Santa Cruz Location (Public Entrance): 1001 Rodriguez St., Santa Cruz, 95062 Hours: Daily 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Watsonville Location: CURRENTLY CLOSED 580 Airport Blvd, Watsonville, CA 95076 SCCAS Main line: 831-454-7200. Animal Control: 831-454-7227. After-Hours Emergency: 831-471-1182 • After Hours: jillian.ganley@santacruzcounty.us

By Tony Tomeo

ertain parts of the vegetable garden are ideal for certain types of vegetables. Wire fences are perfect for pole beans to climb. Corn belongs at the northern edge where it will not shade lower plants.

Vegetable gardening would be simpler if it were like permanent landscaping. Instead, vegetable plants are seasonal and very consumptive. They prefer fresh resources.

Garden rotation gives them more of what they crave.

Garden rotation, or crop rotation, is growing vegetables where they have not grown recently. For the most efficiently planned gardens, it happens seasonally. Alternatively, some types of vegetables might be happy to grow repeatedly in the same soil for a few years. Some vegetable plants are more consumptive than others. Some soils are more susceptible to nutrient depletion than others.

A few variables are involved.

Furthermore, the various vegetable plants deplete distinct sets of nutrients.

Conversely, they allow other nutrients to replenish. That is why garden rotation is so effective. For example, if beans grow in the same location for too long, they deplete their favorite nutrients. The nutrients that they use less of secretly replenish.

Tomatoes or corn might appreciate the replenishment, without craving so much of what is deficient.

Eventually, vegetable plants can return to a location where they grew a few years earlier. Again, a few variables are involved. Some might return after an absence of only a single year. Consumptive plants, such as tomatoes and beans, should avoid a previously used

Baseball © Statepoint Media

Beans produce better in new territory.

location for three or more years. So should related vegetables. Peppers and eggplants are related to tomatoes, so should avoid the same used locations.

Garden rotation can also inhibit proliferation of some soil borne pathogens. In other regions, this is a more serious concern. Soil borne pathogens that infest mildly during their first year might flourish with the same host material during a second year. Garden rotation deprives them of that.

••• Spaghetti Squash inter squash grow through summer.

This includes spaghetti squash, Cucurbita pepo subspecies pepo. They thrive with warmth, rich soil and steady watering, to mature in late summer or autumn. They store nicely through winter. Technically, spaghetti squash can ripen earlier in summer. However, flavor improves with a bit of age. Mature fruits can stay on their vines until the foliage gets crispy at the end of the season.

Spaghetti squash fruits resemble melons.

Most types get about four inches wide and eight inches long. Color Winter squash will grow ranges through through summer. creamy white, pale tan, yellow and golden orange.

Fruits with pale color tend to have milder flavor. After cooking, the otherwise solid flesh pulls apart into squiggly bits that resemble spaghetti. The big seeds within may not be true to type. Related squash hybridize freely, particularly with zucchini.

The long vines of spaghetti squash can be somewhat sloppy. This can actually be an advantage. Such vines can sneak about into otherwise unused areas, like pumpkin vines. Alternatively, they might like to climb trellises or shrubbery. They are happy to grow from mounds too, and wrap around the perimeters. Fruits on the ground benefit from occasional turning. Superfluous and fruitless male flowers are good for frying. n ••• Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at tonytomeo.com.

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www.tpgonlinedaily.com Aptos Times / March 15th 2021 / 31

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