Central Fire Hosts First Open House

COMMUNITY NEWS

Central Fire Hosts First Open House

Central Fire District of Santa Cruz County will host its first open house 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15,, at the Aptos Fire Station, 6934 Soquel Drive, Aptos. This event is free and open to visitors of all ages.

This is the first open house since the consolidation of Aptos/La Selva and Central Fire Protection Districts, as well as the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week, which runs from Oct. 9-15 this year.

The theme for Fire Prevention Week this year is “Fire Won’t Wait — Plan Your Escape!”

Participating agencies include Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Medical Response, State Parks/Lifeguards, Santa Cruz County Sheriff and SPCA, as well as the CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) of Santa Cruz County. The focus is to promote public safety and disaster preparedness.

A special raffle will offer prizes from local businesses, including Play it Again Sports and Wonderland Toys, with 100% of the proceeds to the Santa Cruz County Fallen Officer Foundation, which directly supports Santa Cruz. County first responders and their families in times of crisis. See: https://fallenofficer foundation.com/

Other activities include: • Bounce house & junior firefighter course • Live vehicle extrication demo • Visit with Sparky the Fire Dog • Dunk tank • Food truck (Ate3One) http://www. ate3one.com/ • Games & activities for children • CPR demonstrations • Tours of fire engines, ambulance and other emergency apparatus n ••• www.centralfiresc.org

“City Council Candidates” from page 7

I feel that we need to establish a grassroots committee made up of a variety of community members to establish the needs of the city, then the cost impact of those needs, and then review all options for funding and what the community tolerance is for any tax increase.

Alexander Pedersen: The city of Capitola recently conducted a poll to gauge support for an empty home tax and it revealed that there likely isn’t enough public support to move forward at this time.

I think it’s an interesting idea and a potentially valuable source of revenue for the city but I’d like to see how the city of Santa Cruz’ empty home tax develops before we consider any further action.

I’ve heard concerns about the implementation in Santa Cruz so I’m glad that we will have the opportunity to learn from their experience and see what aspects might need to be revised if we decide to pursue a similar measure in the future. n

••• What’s the best way for voters to find out more about you or get in touch with you? Yvette Brooks: https://yvettebrooks.com/ Joe Clarke: www.electjoeclarke.com Enrique Dolmo Jr.: https://www. mrdolmo.com/ Gerry Jensen: jensenforcapitola.com • Facebook: Gerry Jensen For Capitola City Council. • Instagram: @ gerryjensenforcapitola Alexander Pedersen: https://www. pedersenforcapitola.com/

“Ortiz” from page 6

I unscrewed the cap and took out a single pill. Then I jumped down, ran past Laura, and went into the bedroom. I lay down on Mom and Dad’s bed and chewed the aspirin until it was gone.

You’re a real pill, I said to myself. Quitcha bellyaching, I answered.

Mom and Dad hadn’t come back, so I tried to stretch my luck.

I went into the kitchen, got one more aspirin from the bottle, ran back into the bedroom, and again lay down to finish it off. I continued, one aspirin at a time, until I’d eaten more than I could count. I kept wondering if I’d get caught. I enjoyed the tension of not knowing. I was beginning to feel bad, but I didn’t know if it was from guilt or from medicine.

As I slipped into the kitchen for the half-dozenth time, Mom walked in the door. She saw that dad wasn’t there and blew her stack. “Daddy left you alone again,” she mumbled through her teeth. She looked at my face and could see something was wrong.

“Joey, ya look green,” she said. “What’sa matta?

She glanced into the kitchen and saw the chair by the counter and the cabinet door open and started to panic. She put me to bed immediately and stuck a thermometer in my mouth. Then she ran to the phone to call Dr. Boccardi.

In the bedroom, I started convulsing with hot flashes, my mouth wide open but no air coming in. Mom, seeing me gasping for breath and feeling helpless, screamed at the top of her lungs for Dad who just happened to be walking in the door with his bottle of beer and smokes. He ran into the bedroom and took me in his arms. He breathed air into my mouth as if his own life depended on it. At that point the fever seemed to break, and he laid me back onto the bed where, they tell me, I fell into a calm, peaceful sleep.

When Dr. Boccardi arrived, I woke up and found myself wrapped in a blanket on the couch. He took my temperature.

“One-O-Four,” he said as Mama howled.

“He’s going to be okay,” Dr. Boccardi said, his brown suit, warm and rich as hot chocolate, his tender brown eyes always sympathetic enough to soothe me— reminding me I was going to be all right.

“Joseph,” Dr. Boccardi finally said. “How many aspirin did you eat?”

I hesitated at first. Since I could hardly think and barely speak, I fumbled with my fingers, trying to calculate the number. I stuck up one, then two, then three . . .

As Mom grew impatient, she prodded me: “How many?” she said. “Come on!”

“Come on,” I said in a daze. I guess all I could think about was dad teaching me how to call for my number in craps.

I held up five fingers on my left hand and two on my right.

“Come on . . . seven.” n