Talk of the Bay from KSQD

Lo0kout Santa Cruz reporter Chris Neely was 11 on 9-11, 2001 and living in a suburb of New Jersey where the majority of parents commuted in to Manhattan. His teacher was sobbing, half a dozen of his classmates were called out of class not to return, and the principal cancelled recess, fibbing there was a bee swarm. What there really was was a fear of a toxic cloud drifting over the school from the twin towers on wire. Chris talks about his vivid memories and the way his neighbors back home still take a silent moment to look across the Hudson at where the towers stood. We also talk local news, from homeless camp sweeps to the closing of MHCAN and the Watsonville City Council’s vote to expand their use of FLOCK license plate cameras, despite public outcry.

Monday on Talk of the Bay we meet Laura February Strange and members of the cast of “Karen with a K: A musical temper tantrum.” If you haven’t had the chance to experience this local garage-rock musical it’s coming around once more at the Kummbwa Jazz Center in downtown Santa Cruz. “Karen with a K” features a band of talented musicians, singers and actors that deliver a rollicking, powerhouse hour and fifteen minute performance that leaves crowds cheering on their feet. All songs written by Laura February Strange and performed by Strange Bedfellows, featuring Laura February Strange, Scott Kail, Jojo Fox, Jack Hanson and Orbrad Darbro, plus vocalists Stephanie Madrigal, Bonny June and Judy Appleby. Next show: Saturday, September 13, 2025 7:00 pm at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. More info: Karen with a K Tickets  

When Gail Pellerin lost her husband to suicide, she knew she needed to learn more about the causes and prevention as part of her healing process. Now, she is advocating for awareness through a resolution declaring September Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In addition, she is honoring “Mental Health Heroes” in her district. KSQD is proud that host, Debra Sloss is among those being honored, for her work on radio and podcasting. Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) invited mental health advocates and survivors to the Capitol for her presentation of ACR 70, which proclaims September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Pellerin, a survivor of suicide loss, has been a passionate advocate for prevention awareness since her husband, Tom, died on November 19, 2018. “Early in my grieving process, I attended a talk on suicide, and the speaker encouraged us to put our grief to work. We’re here today to shine a light on this pain that’s all too common, but not discussed enough,” Pellerin said. Since being elected to the State Assembly, she has used her voice and lived experiences as a platform to raise awareness to the issue on a state-wide level, including emphasizing how words matter and moving away from “committed suicide” to “died by suicide” because suicide is not a crime, it is the tragic result of an illness. Behavioral health services are a vital resource that Assembly Democrats have funded across California—especially following federal cuts. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that mental health issues are a leading cause of suicide, suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 15-34, and 39% of all suicides involve firearms. These statistics could change with increased awareness and prevention. “Suicide is not a selfish act. It is a devastating outcome of someone who feels utterly hopeless, trapped in unbearable pain, and no longer afraid of dying. Please know that you are not alone, you are wanted, and no one will be better off without you. Take it from someone who knows. Help is available. Call or text 988 to receive support during a mental health crisis. The LGBTQ+ community can access The Trevor Project by calling 988 and pressing 3, or by texting “PRIDE” to 988,” affirmed Assemblymember Pellerin. What Assemblymembers Have to Say Fellow member of the Select Committee on California’s Mental Health Crisis, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva shared, “As an educator, I have seen how important it is that our youth and all Californians have access to mental health resources and support. Suicide prevention is about awareness, compassion, and action, and I am proud to stand with Assemblymember Pellerin in supporting ACR 70 to break the stigma and save lives.” “Each of us has a responsibility to check in with one another and ensure we’re truly okay. By giving our attention and care, we can save lives and offer vital support to those who need it most,” said Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson, a member of the Select Committee on California’s Mental Health Crisis. Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D-Silicon Valley) said, “Mental health care is healthcare, and you deserve the best. Everyone struggles at different moments in life, and sometimes those moments feel crushingly difficult to get through: when that happens, talk to someone you trust and text or call 988 to speak with a crisis counselor. I am so deeply appreciative to Assemblymember Pellerin for sharing her story, bringing us together, and authoring ACR 70 to recognize September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.” What Advocates Have to Say “Suicide is preventable, and through collective commitment, we can save lives. I’m deeply proud that, with years of advocacy and coalition-building, all 15 cities

7,200 UC Research and Public Service Professionals Vote Yes to Form a Union They are the latest group of professional staff to join the UAW organizing movement Berkeley/Los Angeles, CA – Today, votes were tallied in a union election for 7,200 Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) across all campuses of the University of California. RPSPs voted overwhelmingly for their union, RPSP-UAW, 3,080 to 612 — 83% voting yes. RPSPs are full-time, professional staff who perform work critical to UC’s academic and research mission—and who have been organizing to gain greater power to sustain and improve that work.   RPSPs perform a broad range of work that UC depends on and the public benefits from, including supporting advances related to pediatric cancer, ending homelessness, space science, and public health. They are responsible for running core facilities, administering grants, data analysis and more. RPSPs cite a range of issues as their reasons for forming a union, from stagnant salaries despite increasing workloads to threats to job security and a lack of transparency in administrative decision-making. In the face of federal funding cuts to higher education, many RPSPs also want a union to gain a stronger political voice.   “I’m thrilled we won our union because I know my colleagues have the expertise necessary to help strengthen the UC in these difficult times, and now we finally have our seat at the negotiating table,” said Leila Espinosa, Project Management Professional at UCLA. “Forming a union has never been more important with higher education under increasing attack. We are joining a movement of research and professional employees in UAW who have been at the forefront of fighting funding cuts and protecting jobs and values in higher education. Many of our closest colleagues at UC are already a part of this movement, and through an incredible organizing effort, we have now gained the same rights and bargaining power as them,” said Deborah Ferguson-Fitch, Research Administrator at UCSF. “As the Trump administration continues its assault on workers, it’s never been more important to join the movement of tens of thousands of higher education workers throughout the country who are standing up for social and economic justice at their jobs and in their communities. UAW members across the country look forward to standing with RPSPs in their fight to improve their working conditions, to protect research funding, and to create the better world we all deserve,” said Mike Miller, UAW Region 6 Director. RPSPs are joining over 50,000 researchers, professional staff, and academic workers at the University of California who are already unionized with the UAW. They are part of a movement of higher education workers across the country increasingly turning to unionization to gain a voice in determining their working conditions. Learn more at: https://rpsp-uaw.org/

Hundreds of protesters lined Ocean Street in Santa Cruz waving signs in opposition to the labor policies of the Trump administration as the labor day beach traffic left town. Cars honked in support and there was an air of determination and solidarity among those I spoke with.

Organizer Lynda Marin talks about Sun Day and why it’s important. Sun Day is a day of action to celebrate the power of clean energy. On September 21st, people everywhere will be showcasing solar installations, electric homes and vehicles running on clean power. By organizing thousands of events on the fall Equinox, Sun Day will help accelerate the ongoing clean energy revolution: we have the technology and the solutions, all we need is to build the political will to scale-up and accelerate clean energy and make it accessible to all. In Santa Cruz, the event will take place with live music, solar energy experts, electric vehicles, and children’s activities. Start: Sunday, September 21, 2025•12:00 PM Location:Mission Plaza Park•103 EMMET STREET SANTA CRUZ CA 95060- 831-251-2793, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 US Host Contact Info: [email protected] In Monterey, Sun Day will be celebrated Sunday, September 21, 2025• 11:00 AM Window on the Bay Park•Del Monte Avenue, Monterey, CA 93940 US Host Contact Info: [email protected]

Author Bill McKibben talks about the hope of a solar energy future and a chance to heal the planet as he discusses his new book, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization. Transcript: Rachel: I’m here on Talk of the Bay with Bill McKibben. He has a brand new book out called, here Comes The Sun, A Last Chance For The Climate and a Fresh Chance For Civilization. A provocative title from an author who has relentlessly pushed the idea that we can. Deal with the climate crisis if we act soon. Bill, what’s different about this book than your previous book seems to be a little bit more optimism, but also increased urgency. How do you balance those two things in this book? Balancing Optimism and Urgency in Climate Action McKibben: Well, that’s, it’s, you’re definitely right. Um, we live at a. A very fraught moment. Uh, the things that I’ve been warning about since I wrote the first book about climate change, what we then called the Greenhouse Effect back in the 1980s. Those things are coming true, and they’re coming true with flood and fire and disaster of all kinds at precisely the moment that our democracy is under enormous threat. And part of that has been an assault on clean energy. So there’s a lot of. Big, bad things happening, I think, on our planet and in our country. But the big good thing that’s happening, uh, and it’s really flying under the radar some, is this super rapid spread of energy from the sun. The last 36 months or so have been just. Unlike anything that’s ever come before. This is not only the fastest growing energy source on the planet, it’s the fastest growing energy source in the history of the planet. And it’s starting in the places that are taking it really seriously to transform the human relationship with energy. Uh, California is obviously one example. Uh, most days now California supplies a hundred percent of the electricity that it uses from renewable sources for. Long sections of the day at night. California supplies often its biggest supplier from the grid is now batteries that have been soaking up excess sunshine all afternoon, and as a result, California fourth largest economy on Earth is using about 40% less natural gas to make electricity than it was two years ago. California’s Progress in Renewable Energy That’s the kind of change that if we manage to spread it around the world. Quickly, uh, that would knock tenths of a degree off how hot this planet’s eventually going to get. It’s the single most encouraging statistic I’ve come across in almost 40 years of doing this work. Rachel: That’s wonderful. I, I was left with so many questions. McKibben: I’ll try to get to them all, but one big one of course is can the current politics of our country, one of the biggest polluters of carbon into the atmosphere? Can politics stop this market force that seems to be making it cheaper and cheaper? It can’t stop the market force, but it may be able to use politics to get in the way, uh, enough to really slow things down in the us you know, the federal government is now just doing one, I think, insanely stupid thing after another. For instance, they’ve put federal lands off limits for solar and wind, um, but full speed ahead with coal and gas and oil there now. Adding new subsidies to coal in this country. They’re trying to kill off the electric vehicle, uh, uh, progress that we’ve started to make, um, under President Biden, on and on and on. This can slow things down here at a crucial time, but it is worth remembering that. The US is, at this point, only about 11% of the emissions on the planet. They can’t slow down what’s happening in the rest of the world. In fact, I think that all of Trump’s, uh, talk of

On KSQD’s Talk of the Bay, From the Streets host Omar Dieguez welcomes Watsonville resident Adela Naranjo-Bernabé. As a first-generation immigrant and a graduate of Cabrillo College and Watsonville High, she knows firsthand the challenges and triumphs of the migrant experience. As the DREAM Resource and Summer Migrant Programs Coordinator at Cabrillo College, she’s dedicated to ensuring that undocumented and mixed-status students feel a sense of belonging and have the resources to succeed. Her work is more than just a job; it’s a commitment to social justice and a resistance against systemic barriers. Omar and Adela discuss her inspiring path, her commitment to her community, and her mission to create a more equitable educational system.

This summer, I taught 25 UC Santa Cruz students podcasting. They’d never tried anything like it, but dove in feet first. The assignment was to come up with a topic about a local cultural practice or person, and produce a 7-8 minute audio story as a group. Here we hear their short audio stories, collected during their six-week study abroad in the small coastal town of Dingle, Ireland, in County Kerry. It’s a place rich in music, where Irish is the spoken language and sheep outnumber the people. They interviewed locals about set dancing, Irish identity, poetry, myths and food. Though none had ever done a podcast before, they braved the wilds of digital editing and interviewing to come up with some great stories. Here are some images: For additional podcasts: https://ireland23.sites.ucsc.edu/

Kymberly Lacross of Growing Greatness has a message for people feeling isolated. Come on out and play! Information is below: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kymberly Lacrosse Growing Greatness Phone: (831) 234-2046 Email: [email protected] Website: www.growinggreatness.net   Community Celebration “Comunidad en Movimiento – Semillas de Bienestar” Cultivates Wellness and Connection in Watsonville Watsonville, CA — August 16, 2025 — Growing Greatness, Ecology Action, Gardenia y Bienestar, and Watsonville NDMA are proud to announce Comunidad en Movimiento – Semillas de Bienestar (Community in Movement – Seeds of Wellness). This FREE EVENT will be filled with vibrant, family-friendly activities that celebrate wellness and is taking place at Pinto Lake County Park. The event will be open from 11am to 3pm. It will bring together local residents, organizations, and community groups/ organizations for a day filled with movement, play, nature, and community connection. Set in the heart of the Pajary Valley, Comunidad en Movimiento aims to uplift and empower communities through inclusive, bilingual programming that promotes health, sustainability, and togetherness. Event Highlights Include: Community bike rides & a bike rodeo (on-bike training) Yoga and mindfulness sessions Nature-based activities, including hiking, walking, and play Health and Fitness activities including Zumba, Pilates, and Capoeira Health & wellness resources and a CHILL ZONE for self-care FREE Healthy and nutritious food, and eco-friendly giveaways “Our goal is to create an accessible, uplifting space for all ages and backgrounds to engage in wellness and community-building while in nature,” said Kymberly Lacrosse, Executive Director of Growing Greatness. “We invite local organizations to partner with us in planting the seeds of transformation and wellness.” In-kind donations and volunteer support are also welcome. We have a few spaces for interactive activities left- please connect with us! FREE BIKE VALET also offered! Interested organizations are encouraged to contact Kymberly Lacrosse at (831) 234-2046 or via email at [email protected] to explore partnership options. Join Us! Be part of a powerful movement to inspire health, connection, and community leadership in Santa Cruz County. Let’s grow something beautiful—together.

Greg “Sea Lion” Cotten talks about a nonviolent protest he is helping organize against the Israeli policy of prohibited Gazans, many of who are starving, from fishing or swimming in the ocean. Red Line in the Sand protests are sweeping Europe and now the U.S. as a statement of opposition to the war.

Reporter Celia Jimenez does a deep dive into how people’s behavior and actions are changing as a result of fears of detention and family separation by ICE. Her cover story in Monterey County Weekly takes a comprehensive look at how immigrants are faring in an era of fear and mistrust driven by increased ICE raids in California communities. Transcript: Hello and welcome to talk of the Bay brought to you every weekday afternoon at five o’clock right here on Community Radio. I’m your host, Rachel Anne Goodman, and today we take a look at a major article. Is the cover story actually from Monterey County Weekly called Into the Shadows. Immigration Raids have not yet come to Monterey County, but the fear that they could. Is changing people’s lives. Reporter Celia Jimenez is our guest for the first half of this program. I’m very pleased to bring her into the conversation. This is a very amazing article and I think you should be commended for all the work you did on it. It’s quite something. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you very much. It was kinda like a last minute story. And then I think last minute in a sense that we normally plan our stories like three or four months in advance. And this one took less time than others, but we thought that it was time sensitive and it was something that we should we’re wondering, what was happening in the region. And I actually was surprised with what I found out. You did a lot of research in a very short amount of time, and we’re gonna go through some of the information you managed to get from people who wanted to be anonymous for very obvious reasons, but they were willing to talk to you about how their lives have changed. So I wanna spend some time on the individuals you talk. To, and then I wanna spend some time on the amazing amount of research you did to bring forward just what the profile is of the workforce in the agricultural and construction industry. So we’re gonna set the stage in a moment for. Exactly how many people are in Monterey, in San Benito counties. Do we think? Of course, those numbers are quite hard to come by, but you managed to get a lot of information in a very short amount of time. So let’s just talk about what you saw when you talked to businesses who have seen a real drop in participation in commerce, basically. I walked down in, on, in Greenfield along, along with Camino, and I also visited several businesses in Seaside. Actually, one of the people that I spoke with, Catalina, I spent two hours at her shop and only two people showed up in that amount of time. And what was her shop selling? They sell like Mexican goods. Yeah. And only two people. That’s quite down from what she’s used to. Is that what you found out? Yes. And then especially because she, her business is like in the major street, so there’s a lot of traffic. Or, but you barely, no one showed up to the store. So places like Seaside Marina that cater to a lot of the immigrant community, Paro you’re, they’re seeing a real drop in business. Yes. Like some of the people that I spoke with they couldn’t really quantify how much in Salinas there was this woman who has a, oh my God. I’m sorry. I need to think a little bit. English is not my first language, so sometimes I struggle a little bit. You’re doing great. But she has a nightclub and it’s a restaurant during the day and nightclub at night, and she also has a bar and she was saying that about 50% of attendance has dropped. In her business. And this is like in a commercial area where the Cardinal store is in east and Sanborn. And then she mentioned that most of the businesses were seeing at least 50% drop in sales. That’s huge. Most businesses. Didn’t even have that during COVID. ’cause they managed to get food to go out to customers. It wasn&#821

  Zane Gustafson is a writer from Seattle, WA. He is the author of a new book on constitutional reform titled Polemic for Democracy, which was published one week before the 2024 election. He also writes about the energy transition, and his work has been published at the Sightline Institute and the Ohio River Valley Institute. More about Zane can be found on Instagram and YouTube at @politicalzane

It’s been 5 years since the CZU fires devastated the region, and in particular, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, but nature has been hard at work renewing her landscapes, and on Monday, August 18th, a special remembrance and renewal event will take place from 10am-1pm as a collaboration between Big Basin Redwoods State Park and the Mountain Parks Foundation. This is a Family-Friendly Gathering honoring the community experience of the CZU Fire & Celebrating Renewal. This event will feature community members sharing their reflections on the CZU fire, a guided walk, art and looking ahead at the reimagining Big Basin project. Please Note: This program is free, however, a $10 vehicle day-use fee will be charged upon arrival, or you can reserve a parking spot by clicking here. Please plan to meet at the temporary visitor center. There is no drinking water, food, or cell service available at Big Basin, so be sure to bring snacks and plenty of water for your visit! Sign up here For more information, questions, or concerns, please contact [email protected] or call 669-899-1516. Mentioned in this show: Reimagining Big Basin: After almost all recreational facilities were lost in the 2020 CZU Fire, State Parks completed a visioning process to reimagine the future of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. This vision process culminated with creation of the Reimagining Big Basin Vision Summary document in summer 2022. Now, a Facilities Management Plan is underway that will set the stage for the reestablishment of facilities to support visitor experiences and protect sensitive resources. Redwood RX: Mountain Parks Foundation was inspired by the growing body of research linking time spent in nature with improved health and well-being. Redwood Rx offers a variety of nature-based guided programs in Henry Cowell, Fall Creek, and Big Basin that invite participants to interact with nature in new ways and experience the positive impacts on their health and well-being first-hand.

On this episode of Talk of the Bay, host George Cadman welcomes Lourdes and Gabriel Barraza, Ami Chen Mills, Julia Monahan, of Get The Flock Out — a grassroots group raising the alarm about mass surveillance in Santa Cruz County. Also joining the show: Peter Gelblum of the Northern California ACLU, who has been tracking the installation and use of “Flock” cameras in our county for several years. Their concern? Flock license plate reader cameras, now installed in multiple cities across the county, including Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Watsonville (Watsonville has twice as many as the other two cities). These devices, funded by Department of Homeland Security federal grants, collect billions of travel records that are being shared with ICE, Homeland Security, and police departments nationwide — all with little to no oversight. GTFO argues these cameras threaten civil liberties and have already been misused — including in a case where a woman was tracked post-abortion by a Texas police agency. The group is calling on local governments to remove Flock cameras, hold public discussions on mass surveillance and how it might be used at this time by various actors, and protect residents’ Fourth Amendment rights. Want to get involved? Learn how to take action, get informed, and contact your city council. See many links to resources at the following two sites. (Paid subscription is not required.) Moment of Truth Dispatch landing page for GTFO. Essay on Mass Surveillance in the US, also in Moment of Truth Dispatch

  On today’s Talk of the Bay, at 5PM host Meilin Obinata introduces you to Youth Against Displacement, a grassroots organization which racked up multiple rounds of victories against gentrification and displacement of long-time residents in the real estate capital of America, New York City, regardless of Mayors Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams. How do the issues of affordable housing, small businesses, workers’ rights, zoning limits on building heights, stealing workers’ wages to build luxury towers, identity politics, the role of academia in forming narratives and even the emotions of burnout and misplaced guilt all collide in Chinatown and the Lower East Side? Tune in, today, August 7th at 5PM, for Talk of the Bay, right here on KSQD and also available now as a podcast.

  Charles Pasternak is the Artistic Director for Santa Cruz Shakespeare, where he has served in that role since 2023. Before that he served as Artistic Director of The Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company in Los Angeles for over fifteen years. He has had a wide-ranging career as an actor and director at theatres across this country including American Players Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, The Denver Center, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, three seasons with The Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis and four with Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

  The Western Flyer has returned from a remarkable 100-day expedition (March 16, 2025 to June 24, 2025) to the Gulf of California — retracing the 1940 voyage of John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts and bringing their story into a new century. From tide pool surveys to classroom visits, from dockside festivals to long days at sea, this was more than a scientific expedition — it was a layered, collaborative journey fueled by curiosity and connection. Students, scientists, artists, and community partners across two countries came together to make it happen. Sherry Flumerfelt is the Executive Director of the Western flyer Foundation, and since 2022 she’s been guiding the vision behind the rebirth of the Western Flyer—the storied boat once sailed by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts, a voyage described in Steinbeck’s The Log from the Sea of Cortez. With a background in ocean conservation, international fieldwork, and nonprofit leadership, Sherry has spent the past three decades building partnerships that connect people to the sea. Now she’s channeling that experience into transforming the Flyer into a floating classroom and research vessel. Captain Paul Tate is a U.S. Coast Guard-certified Master, with more than five decades of experience at sea. Paul’s career has included commercial fishing in the Bering Sea, captaining private yachts in the Caribbean, and leading research expeditions from Alaska to the Arctic. He’s been at the helm of everything from crab boats to scientific vessels, and now brings his deep knowledge and steady hand to the Western Flyer as it sets off on its newest chapter.

KSQD’s David Bean presents street interviews with locals protesting on August 2, 2025 in Monterey.

Host Meilin Obinata introduces you to Andrew Sandoval, City of Salinas Councilmember of District Five. What is it like to survive a recall campaign when the big money is after you? Or what it’s like to advocate for renters rights when the majority of the city council isn’t? And what it was like to be the one to blow the whistle on the new Amazon distribution center? Let’s get to know Salinas City Councilmember Sandoval and his perspective on all things Salinas.  

On this episode of Talk of the Bay, host PK Hattis speaks with Amanda Poulsen, Assistant Vector Control Manager for Santa Cruz County, about one of summer’s most persistent pests: mosquitoes.

  On this episode of Talk of the Bay, host PK Hattis is joined by Dan Emmanuel, Director of Research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, for a critical conversation. They dive into the freshly released 2025 Out of Reach Report, which once again names Santa Cruz County the least affordable rental market in the country, for the third straight year. Renter Wages vs. Reality By contrast, the average renter wage in Santa Cruz is about $22.13 per hour, meaning a worker would need 3.7 full-time jobs at that wage just to afford rent. National Housing Wage Landscape Across the U.S., the national housing wage is $33.63/hr for a two-bedroom rent, and $28.17/hr for a one-bedroom. Nearly half of workers earn less than the wage needed for a modest one-bedroom home Widening Gap from Second Place Santa Cruz’s lead over the second most expensive market, Santa Clara County, is pronounced. Its housing wage of $81.21/hr surpasses Santa Clara’s $66.27/hr by nearly $15/hr, and fair market rent in Santa Cruz ($4,223/month 2br) is 22% higher than in Santa Clara ($3,446/month 2br)

Talk of the Bay’s host Omar Diéguez brings you an interview with Sylvia Reyes on From the Streets. In this episode of Talk of the Bay: From the Streets host Omar Diéguez. welcomes a powerful voice of entrepreneurship, empowerment, and corazón, Sylvia Reyes. A proud Latina and dynamic force in Santa Cruz County, Sylvia wears many hats: She’s the owner of California Coffee in Aptos, where café cultura meets live music, local education, and warm community. She’s also a seasoned business broker with Coast Business Brokerage, guiding others through the journey of buying, selling, and growing their dreams with integrity and clarity. But Sylvia’s story doesn’t stop at business. As a board member of the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, she’s deeply committed to financial justice and creating access for all, especially for underserved communities. From humble beginnings to building community, one cup of coffee, one client, and one corazón at a time, Sylvia Reyes joins us to talk cultura, connection, and what it really means to build something that lasts.

In this episode of Talk of the Bay, your host Meilin Obinata welcomes Pastor Julie of Somos Watsonville to the KSQD studio! Learn about a new way to practice ministry and fellowshipping from Pastor Julie. What is Somos about? Why is a church campus hosting health clinics for young people? What’s the secret to a great mocha? What makes a place into a destination for creating community? And how did a Southern Californian like her, armed with an Ivy-league education, end up as a pastor despite all her attempts to resist becoming one (and when everyone says it wasn’t “cool”)? How did her desire to write the Great American Novel lead her to work on a farm, and ultimately help her see what her purpose was?

    In this episode of Talk of the Bay, host Omar Dieguez introduces you guests Dr. Ann López and Adam Bolaños Scow who are alerting us to the dangers of pesticides being sprayed near schools in Watsonville and Pajaro. Over ten schools sit near fields owned by Driscolls, who continue to spray harmful pesticides, harming our community, teachers, students, Indigenous community farmworkers, and Mother Earth.   Guest Adam Bolaños Scow is a Public-Interest Advocate, Violinist, and Music Teacher. For over 15 years Adam has helped win environmental campaigns in the Monterey Bay region including the efforts to ban fracking in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties. He is a co-founder of the Campaign for Organic & Regenerative Agriculture, a grassroots group working to transition agricultural fields away from toxic pesticides to organic in the Watsonville area. He has served on the boards of Regeneracion Pajaro Valley Climate Action, Watsonville Wetlands Watch, and the Sierra Club. He previously served as a Board Trustee for the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, where he helped win one the largest salary increases for teachers and staff in the history of the district and protected vital arts and music programs. As a violinist Adam performs with the Santa Cruz Symphony and also performs Mariachi music with the ensembles RosaAzul and Mariachi Libertad. Adam teaches both orchestra and mariachi through the award-winning El Sistema program in Watsonville.   Guest Dr. Ann López is the Executive Director of Center for Farmworker Families. She is an emerita professor and taught courses in biology, environmental science, ecology and botany in the biology department at San José City College for many years. She has a Ph.D. from UCSC in Environmental Studies where she studied the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the farms of west central Mexico. Her book entitled The Farmworkers’ Journey summarizes the results, arguments and conclusions of her research and was published by UC Press.. She has been recognized for her work by The U.S. Congress and many organizations. She was chosen as a Woman of the Year for 2013 and 2014 by the National Association of Professional Women. In March 2018, she was chosen for a 16th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Community Award in Watsonville and as Woman of the Year by Mark Stone’s 29th District for 2019.  

  On this episode of Moment of Truth, host Meilin Obinata introduces you to the Chair of the Housing Committee and District 10 California State Senator Aisha Wahab. In this housing-centric conversation, you’ll hear about her personal experiences as a rare renter in the state legislature, her views on affordable housing and her concerns about the “silver tsunami” of seniors who will need housing that matches their income as they leave the workforce. Our conversation also included consumer protection topics beyond housing, such as her battle with investor-owned utilities such as PG&E (SB 332) and online pricing protections to ensure all consumers are paying the same price for a service or product (SB 259).

Host Suki Wessling of the Babblery spoke to Aptos residents out for the “Good Trouble” protest on July 17, 2025. Visit goodtroubleliveson.org and www.indivisiblesantacruzcounty.com for more information. Photos by Suki Wessling.

  On this episode of Talk of the Bay, your host Meilin Obinata spoke with Heather Edney a pioneering co-founder of the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange Program which made history in the early 1990’s for being one of a handful of needle exchange harm reduction programs in the United States, in the grip of the AIDS epidemic. How did a group of young women stigmatized as sex workers and injection drug users save lives of their peers when the medical establishment wasn't? What did mayonnaise jars in front of Dominican Hospital send a message to the medical establishment? What does Edney tell doctors-to-be when she visits medical schools to share her expertise? Connect with a national, living treasure, who saved lives locally and continues to do so, Heather Edney. You can see a short film about Edney’s work in the Santa Cruz Needle Exchange Program called "Love is the Drug" this Saturday, July 19, at 4PM at the 418 Project at a benefit for the Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz County.

  Marichka is a Ukrainian-Canadian singer and human rights advocate, winner of the Amnesty International Prize and creator of the folk music website, https://folk-ukraine.com. She is the former lead singer with Balaklava Blues and Lemon Bucket Orkestra. She has performed at top venues around the world including Carnegie Hall in New York, The Barbican Centre in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2023 Marichka joined Ukrainian Army Forces as a volunteer combat medic and an embedded journalist in the Donbás region in Eastern Ukraine. Her latest project is producing, composing and singing on the music/human rights album, Daughters of Donbas – Songs of Stolen Children. The album deals with the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children that have been abducted from occupied regions in Eastern Ukraine and taken to Russia. The song 4.5.0 from that album (an excerpt is heard during the interview) is in the words of a mother singing to her far-away daughter, reassuring her that everything will someday be alright. 4.5.0 is a code used by the Ukrainian army to indicate that all is well. Marichka’s teaching and singing repertoire is over 500 years old and was collected over the past 20 years on various ethnographic field expeditions to Ukrainian villages by the renowned folk ensemble Bozhychi, of which she was a founding member.

On Tuesday, June 24th, 2025, host George Cadman interviewed Paul Johnston of the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network, a 100% volunteer-run community network that is dedicated to welcoming and supporting asylum seekers and other refugees in Santa Cruz County. Paul Johnston is a sociologist and labor/community organizer. He has been an advocate for immigrant rights in the Monterey Bay region for decades. As a young man he was an organizer against the Vietnam War, both in the army and among veterans, and also an organizer for the United Farm Workers and for the Service Employees International Union. More recently he served as executive director of both the Central Coast Citizenship Project in Salinas and the Central Labor Council for the Monterey Bay region. In between, he earned a doctorate in sociology at UC Berkeley and was a professor at Yale University, where he directed the organizational behavior program. He subsequently held research appointments at UCSC. In the past few years he helped to develop the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network and the new Interfaith Network. In this interview, Paul and George talk about the history of the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network, how and why it was created, the “new neighbors” they support, the types of support they offer, and why their efforts – and our new neighbors – are important and valued in our community. They also discuss new challenges facing asylum seekers and other refugees in the current political climate, and how community members can support our new neighbors and the work of the SC Welcoming Network.

  Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the just-published Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

  Charles Hood is a naturalist, adventurer, and poet. He has also been a factory worker, a ski instructor, a dishwasher, and a nature guide in Africa. Nature study has taken him to all 50 U.S. states, 80 countries, and the South Pole. Along the way, he has been lost in a whiteout in Tibet, contracted and survived bubonic plague, and published 20 books and over 800 photographs. His essay collection A Salad Only the Devil Would Eat was named the Nonfiction Book of the Year by the editors of Foreword book review. He lives in the Mojave Desert with two kayaks, two mountain bikes, two dogs, and 5,000 books. While old tales warn us that danger lies waiting in the dark, there is actually an abundance of thriving, colorful life at night. In his latest book NATURE AT NIGHT, Charles Hood discovers the wildlife that awakens when the sun goes down, revealing a strange and surprisingly beautiful world.

  Michael Gene Sullivan is an Actor/Writer/Director/Activist based in SF. He is an alum of the Playwrights Foundation, and has been awarded both a Djerassi Arts Center Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship as a dramatist. Michael is also Resident Playwright for the Tony and OBIE award-winning SF Mime Troupe, where he has written or co-written over 30 plays, including “1600 Transylvania Avenue”, “Too Big To Fail”, “Freedomland”, “Making a Killing”, and “Back To The Way Thing Were”, as well as the Tales of the Resistance radio/podcast series. In 2024, in addition to writing SFMT’s summer hit “American Dreams”, his play Sign My Name To Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin opened to critical-acclaim at the SF Bay Area Theatre Company, and his stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 – already translated into six languages and performed in fourteen countries on five continents – was produced by The Aurora Theatre. Michael’s other plays include The Great Khan, which premiered at SF Playhouse, San Diego Rep. and Chicago’s Red Twist Theatre. Michael has taught playwriting at the ACT, SFMT’s Young California Writers Project, has guest lectured on play creation or taught playwriting workshops at Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, and USC. For ten years Michael was also a Contributing Writer for The Huffington Post. Michael’s directing credits include work with the SF Shakespeare Festival, Marin Shakespeare Company, the African American Shakespeare Company, Mystic Bison Theatre, TheatreFirst, and a dozen productions with the SF Mime Troupe. As an actor Michael has performed at theaters throughout the Bay Area (including at all four of the Bay Area’s Tony-winning theaters), has toured nationally and internationally – including off-Broadway and at the Kennedy Center. San Francisco Mime Troupe’s latest production, “Disruption“, will be performed in Santa Cruz on July 13, 2025.

You may have heard of President Donald Trump’s spending bill moving through Congress known as “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” Yes, that’s the actual title of the 1,000 plus page piece of legislature. In fact, if you’re a regular listener of Talk of the Bay have indeed because we’ve had many guests on in recent weeks to discuss the myriad ways the bill is expected to impact communities across the Central Coast and country as a whole. While the president and Republicans in Congress insist it is meant to weed out waste, fraud and abuse, Democrats in Congress and nonpartisan leaders across the Santa Cruz County region have warned for months that the legislation spells for devastating impacts to the social safety net including massive cuts to Medicaid or Medi-Cal and the decimation of budgets for local governments. The bill proposes to cut $300 BILLION from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through 2034—the largest cut in the program’s history. The program, known in California as CalfFresh, fed an average of 42 million low-income people per month in 2023. Host PK Hattis was recently joined in-studio by Erica Padilla-Chavez, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County and Tony Nunez, board chair, Watsonville Community Hospital and marketing and community relations manager for the nonprofit Community Bridges. Both have been working in this space for years and have been sounding the alarm about the damage this bill could do to so many communities across the country. https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-reconciliation-bill-proposes-deepest-snap-cut-in-history-would-take

Remembering Mike Rotkin: A Special Talk of the Bay Tribute Hello again, Santa Cruz and beyond! Welcome to Talk of the Bay on KSQD 90.7 FM — now proudly broadcasting to more of our coastal neighbors in Salinas and Monterey too! This week’s show is a heartfelt special: “Remembering Mike” — a tribute to the life and legacy of former Santa Cruz mayor, educator, union organizer, and all-around community force, Michael E. Rotkin. Mike passed away peacefully at his home in Santa Cruz on June 18th, 2025. He leaves behind a deep imprint on our city and our people. A Studio Full of Stories To remember Mike, five of us gathered in KSQD’s Harvey West Park studio: Former Santa Cruz Mayors Tim Fitzmaurice and Jane Weed Writer and former student of Mike’s, Susie Bright Lifelong friend and community ally, Ron Pomerantz And me, Chris Krohn, your host and friend of Mike’s Together, we shared laughter, grief, admiration, and the kind of stories that only surface when remembering someone who mattered this much. Who Was Mike Rotkin? Mike wasn’t just a politician — he was a movement.Elected to the Santa Cruz City Council in 1978 as a self-described “Marxist-feminist,” Mike rode the wave of progressive politics that crested with UCSC’s founding and reshaped Santa Cruz in the decades that followed. He served six terms on the City Council and held the position of Mayor five times, always pushing the city to think bigger, act more compassionately, and stay rooted in justice. As a UCSC lecturer in Community Studies, Mike educated generations on activism, organizing, and the intersections of labor and local policy. He was also a labor organizer, a founding force in the creation of the UC-AFT lecturers’ union — a fierce advocate for working people at the university and beyond. From the Guests: Memories, Politics, and Music Tim Fitzmaurice remembered their union work in the 1980s — a time, he said, “filled with love and fire.” The UC-AFT effort was hard, gritty organizing — and Mike was in it for the long haul. Tim also reflected on the tough moment in 1998 when he, along with a voting bloc of new progressives, chose not to support Mike for Mayor — a political decision rooted in respect for another colleague, but one that nonetheless had emotional weight. They also shared a different kind of harmony: Tim and Mike occasionally

This Talk of the Bay episode from Monday, June 16th, 2025 was originally a two part show starting with a conversation with the comedian and impresario DNA. That conversation with DNA will be released as a separate podcast later. We spent the rest of the hour with community organizer Hector Marin. In 2024, he ran as a candidate for Santa Cruz City Council District 2, earning 40.6% of the vote as a first-time challenger against the 58% garnered by incumbent Sonja Brunner. He is a staunch advocate for affordable housing, is a renter himself, and is a community organizer. Our conversation covered the weekend of June 14th filled with protests nationwide and local ones, as well as current events including ICE raids. We touched on Marin's recent article published in Lookout regarding Mayor Fred Keeley's Workforce Housing Affordability Act. The City of Los Angeles's nicknamed the "Mansion Tax" which was a tax on any sale of real estate exceeding $5 million came up in our conversation. As of November 2024, that tax, which was originally named the Measure ULA (United to House LA), has raised $470M. We also talked about how Marin's work as an educator brought awareness to the plight of homelessness among students. It's worth noting that Monterey County clocks in at a staggering 18% while Santa Cruz County clocks in at 9.5% - both of these numbers are multiples of the California average which is under 4%. If you are interested in more episodes about land use, you might also be interested in these Talk of the Bay episodes with Dr. Silva of the Protect Salinas Renters Coalition as well as Dr. Erin McElroy who discusses the role of technology such as surveillance and biometrics in modern landlord and tenant relationships along with concepts from their book, "Silicon Valley Imperialism" which include real estate dynamics.

On this episode of From the Streets, Omar Dieguez speaks with Rolla Alaydi, a Palestinian American organizer who has spent months fighting to evacuate her family from Gaza. Since November 2023, Rolla has made countless appeals to Representative Jimmy Panetta’s office—pleas that have been met with silence, even as she has lost over 100 loved ones to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.Joining us are two of Rolla’s supporters: Christine Hong, a local ethnic studies educator, and Unghae Langis, a member of Panetta Vigil—a grassroots group demanding that Rep. Panetta support an arms embargo on Israel and reject donations from war profiteers and AIPAC.This episode is a powerful testament to resistance, grief, and the urgent need for political accountability.

Talk of the Bay: From the Streets host Omar Dieguez, a mentor with Barrios Unidos, sits down with a group of girls from Pajaro Valley High School to discuss the powerful role mentors play in schools. Listen in as they share how Barrios Unidos creates safe spaces for students to express themselves, connect with their cultura, and find empowerment through education. The conversation also explores how Barrios Unidos supports students beyond the classroom—teaching them about their communities, standing up for their rights, and even advocating for them in the courts. Discover the many ways mentorship transforms lives from the streets and into brighter futures.

KSQD presents a conversation between Chris Krohn and Mike Rotkin, recorded just 2 months before Rotkin’s death on Wednesday (06/18/2025). Rotkin served 25 years on the Santa Cruz City Council, and 5 terms as mayor. He was active in local political and social issues for more than 50 years, and loved and respected for his teaching Community Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz. This show was not previously aired till now.

  On Tuesday, June 10th, host Meilin Obinata spoke with Dr. John Silva from the Protect Salinas Renters coalition. This coalition is seeking signatures for a referendum campaign to repeal the Salinas City Council's recent vote to repeal four renters' rights ordinances including one for rent stabilization. We learn from Dr. Silva, whose years of treating patients taught him about the health impacts of precarious housing.

Host George Cadman discusses the civil rights issues raised by recent ICE deportation raids with constitutional law attorney, Mauni Jalali. Jalali is instituting a call to action, to motivate local electeds to answer to the voters. He has developed expertise in administrative law matters, government regulation, and plaintiff-side antitrust, with particular emphasis on cases involving big tech, big agriculture, big pharma, and ticketing services. He has worked on investment risk analysis due to presidential impoundments, SEC securities actions, and assessing APA challenges to FTC rulemaking. His recent work includes drafting appellate briefing on nationwide injunctions protecting thousands of international students across the United States from visa revocation, handling AEA deportation cases in court, and filing briefing in administrative law matters regarding childhood separation at the border.

On this special FanimeCon edition of Inside Education, host Meilin Obinata speaks with Gilles Poitras, an expert in the realms of anime and manga, Japanese forms of comic book and animated entertainment which have caught popularity around the world. What connections do these storytelling formats have upon learning? How do librarians benefit from having manga and anime in their collections? All this and more on this episode of Inside Education. Intro music used with kind permission of @subrizedubs. https://www.stonebridge.com/authors/gilles-poitras https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:egbby7jkbjeyfbs3zf65vcof https://www.fanime.com

Our intrepid reporter/intern Maury Burnett-Cavoto asks: How are you dealing with the rise in egg prices?

What happens when a former Soviet state experiments with Silicon Valley-style capitalism - when the worlds of open source hardware collide with proprietary corporate control? What happens when American landlords use the latest and greatest in surveillance tech to terrorize renters? McElroy also shares the origin story of SF BARF which Sonja Trauss led, which later became the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) movement. Entertain these questions and more in a chat between Talk of the Bay host Meilin Obinata and guest Dr. Erin McElroy, a professor of Geography at the University of Washington who co-founded the AntiEviction Mapping Project which includes maps of the "worst evictors" in the Bay Area and Landlord Tech Watch "dedicated to producing collective knowledge about landlord-driven surveillance techniques." If you like hearing about data practices, you also might enjoy this Moment of Truth episode featuring Dr. Anita Say Chan, author of "Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech" from March 2025.

Are universities hedge funds? Is knowledge political? What do you think? Join host, Meilin Obinata, for a discussion with Max Sárosi, an organizer of of the Jews Against White Supremacy (JAWS) chapter at UCSC. Sárosi has studied how billionaire philanthropy impacts the University of California, including UC Santa Cruz. What secrets lurk in the gifts of real estate billionaires? Along the way, we learn about how Max’s identity evolved as he searched for what it means to be Jewish while studying in the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies program at UCSC and what led him to found the JAWS chapter there. We touched on the reasons and ways in which JAWS has demanded UCSC cut ties with the Helen Diller Foundation. Max frames the activity of the foundation in the context of billionaire philanthropy and specifically within related industry – real estate and the connections to the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. This show originally aired on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. You can follow Jews Against White Supremacy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jawsucsc/

In this episode of Talk of the Bay, host Meilin Obinata introduces two members of the Tzimtzum Community, which offers Jewish Gatherings for Personal and Collective Liberation. One is the founder Rabbi Chel Mandell, and the other guest is a Jewish educator and is a dedicated member, Ben Yanowitz (who is also a host on The Jewish Diasporist podcast). Learn: what it’s like to start up a new Jewish community in the post-COVID world, how to increase access and inclusivity in Jewish spaces by consciously centering marginalized populations, and why it’s important to create opportunities for understanding leftism within Jewish communities and traditions in the context of Judaism as a cultural practice. This globe-trotting conversation will take you to Krakow, Poland, Palestine, Israel, the United Kingdom and back to the USA. We also touch on fascinating linguistic, historical and religious insights into Jewish life. Instagram: @tzimtzumcommunity@jewishdiasporistpod

In early May, dozens of nonprofit and health care leaders assembled outside of Watsonville Community Hospital to altogether issue a desperate plea: hands off our health care. The message came hours before the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee, which is responsible for health care funding, began debating a Republican-sponsored spending bill in Congress that seeks to cut $880 billion mostly from the budget funding Medicaid, or Medi-Cal as it’s known in California. The unprecedented slashing of the federal program, established almost 60 years ago, will help pay for $4.5 trillion in planned tax breaks being pushed by the White House. Republicans in the House insist they’re eliminating wasteful spending while Democrats warn that millions of Americans will be dropped from their coverage if the bill becomes law. Here in Santa Cruz County, almost 90,000 residents are Medi-Cal beneficiaries and many of them go to Watsonville-based Salud Para La Gente to receive care. That’s why Salud’s chief medical officer, Dr. Devon Francis, was present at the press event outside of Watsonville hospital and gave an impassioned speech not just about the harmful impacts of gutting the program, but to also highlight the important role Medi-Cal plays in preserving our health care system more broadly. Dr. Francis joined Talk of the Bay to share more about why she’s pushing back against the proposed cuts to Medicaid.

Sara Barth, executive director of Sempervirens fund, joined Talk of the Bay just a few days shy of a monumental occasion for California’s first land trust — its 125th anniversary. The conservation group, focused on forest protection and restoration since 1900, commemorated the milestone with the first-ever Redwoods Festival at the historic Roaring Camp property in Felton. The organization has played an enduring role in managing and protecting the majestic, ancient redwoods that continue to grow tall in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They have also spearheaded efforts to help the local environment recover from climate-change fueled disasters, such as the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 which decimated the region and California’s first state park—Big Basin Redwoods. Barth, who has been with Sempervirens since 2016, arrived at K-Squid’s studios ready tell us all about what this landmark nonprofit has managed to achieve in its first 125 years, what it has in mind for the next 125, and just what in the heck a Sempervirens is.

We have the pleasure to talk to the family of Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Ritchie Valens. He was the first Chicano to reach such accomplishments. On this episode of Talk of the Bay, From the Streets, host Omar Dieguez interviewed multiple members of the Ritchie Valens family, including his brother’s daughters Brenda Morales and Bly Morales Chandler, and Bly’s husband Mike Chandler. Learn about the family which nurtured Ritchie Valens, including the relationship he had with his brother, Bob Morales. Locals will relish hearing about the world premiere of the film, “La Bamba” in Watsonville. This show warms your heart with all the memories and reflections of a family filled with love, loss, laughter and togetherness. We will discuss his music his brother Bob and his family originally from San Fernando Valley who later moved to Watsonville, California. We will also talk about about the upcoming remake of the movie La Bamba!  

I am traveling in Italy, in the Garfagnana region, a hilly, remote valley with ancient hilltowns and castles. In the small town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, we come upon a protest organized by the villagers decrying conditions in Gaza. Here is what we recorded from the few who could speak English.