PACIFIC AND CHURCH STREETS 1947. Not much left in this 58 year old photo is still standing. This is now the Urban Outfitters Store and the Regal Cinema building. You can see the People's Bank building one block north. That went up in 1910. It's called the ID Building by some old timers who remember the Integrand Design Store and the Ice Cream Bank. Data from "The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture", 3rd edition, by John Leighton Chase. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

SAN FRANCISCO NEWS I. Reading The Examiner San Francisco, formerly known as the San Francisco Examiner, is odd nowadays. Its now a little tabloid size paper with as much appeal as a shopping guide...but last Friday's edition had some news of interest. Thousands of government officials, business leaders and innovators were in San Francisco for the 12th Annual World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems. They talked about traffic management, improving bus service, how to make roads safer for everyone, and how to reduce overall congestion. I'm assuming some officials from Santa Cruz attended and learned something. Every city in the world is having exactly the same traffic problems that Santa Cruz is experiencing. To keep believing that our Santa Cruz traffic problems are unique is ridiculous and defeating.

London's charging a fee to drive in the worst traffic areas has been so successful that they're expanding the plan to two other areas of the city. Traffic downtown has decreased by 30%, London takes in $175 million in profits and $350 million annually from selling passes to drive in those areas. The profits go specifically to improve the public transportation system. 90% of the people now use public transit (85% before the pass system started). Only 50% of San Franciscans use public transit. The pass system reduced private car trips by 35%, congestion dropped by 30%, and 60% of the Londoners support the idea of fees and passes. Our local issues like widening highways are debated and dropped everywhere else because it doesn't work. Let's hear reports from local officials who attended that Conference and hopefully now have some outside the box thinking on this growth issue.

SAN FRANCISCO NEWS II. Another news item from the Examiner San Francisco reported that the cost of tying up fishing boats at Fisherman's Wharf went up 60% last week. It will now cost $60 a month to berth. That seems very cheap and is the lowest berth fees among 11 West Coast harbors. However the Wharf fishermen say the wharf facilities are inferior and that's a fair fee to pay.

SPEAKING OF SENSIBLE TRANSPORTATION. Paul Elerick, chair of the Campaign for Sensible transportation, emails to say "Again, the Regional Transportation Commission majority that favors highway widening continues to proceed with widening Highway 1. This time without even a vote of the people or committed funds to complete what they are attempting to do. The RTC's "State Route (Highway) 1 Soquel Avenue to Morrissey Boulevard Auxiliary Lane Project", will be shown at a public meeting on November 17th, starting at 6:00 PM at the County Board of Supervisors meeting room.

Please plan to attend the public hearing (information below) and speak out against this wasteful plan to widen the freeway, in the face of the resounding defeat of Measure J last fall. Some questions that need answers:

1. Where are the numbers from traffic studies that show how this will make any difference in congestion on Highway 1?
2. Why push this project before completion of the environmental studies that have been funded to look at the impact of widening Highway 1?
3. Why not wait until the Transportation Measure Tax Force that has been chartered by the RTC has a chance to weigh in on this project, along with everything else they will be looking into?

Time:

Thursday, November 17, 2005
Open House 6:00 pm - 7:15 pm
Public Hearing 7:15 pm

Place:

Board of Supervisors Chambers
Santa Cruz County Government Center
701 Ocean Street, 5th Floor, Santa Cruz, CA

If you cannot attend, please take time to send a letter to the RTC (info@sccrtc.org)
Paul Elerick, Chair, Campaign for Sensible Transportation

LA BAHIA AND SCRP. 7 members of Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning, including yours truly, met with Jesse Nickell, the project director for Barry Swenson and Charlie Canfield's proposed 120 room La Bahia Hotel on Beach Street last week (11/10/05). SCRP is the group who successfully and rapidly co coordinated and organized the opposition to the Coast Hotel Conference Center. It was a productive meeting. The kind of meeting that should take place every time there are attempts to change the general plan or ask for any major changes to the community. The SCRPers had serious objections to the height being 12 feet above the Beach area plan. Nickell said they'd present this plan to the city council and see what happens. This height deviance could mean that all future building on our beachfront would have a precedent to be broken and we'd end up with a Miami beachfront. Other than that, the new design seems fine. It would certainly improve the neighborhood. Canfield and Swenson have to face the Coastal Commission to get this approved. Swenson has no operator for the hotel condo yet. It won't be a time share. It'll have 172 parking spaces. More to follow.

GARY PATTON'S KUSP REPORTS. Read what Gary has to report on The Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the vote on Butterfly Village. Read also about membership in AMBAG and what it means. Gary's reports are a great way to keep in touch with our neighbors around the bay...and it certainly is getting smaller all the time!

UCSC DEIR AND LRDP. There's no doubt that something has to be done about UCSC's growth. Who should give and who should take? What are the cities limits? Can the board of regents be persuaded to re-evaluate the Santa Cruz campus? How far can or should the city give way to the campus growth? We've got serious problems to work out hopefully with the cooperation of UC and there'll be an opportunity to hear about it all this and add your two cents this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Holiday (University) Inn on Ocean Street. This is a public hearing as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Report which is part of their Long Range Development Plan.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. It seemed like there's been dozens of filmed versions of P&P, but there's only been one other filmed version of P&P and that starred Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson back in 1940. I must have been thinking of the Colin Firth 4 part series on Masterpiece Theatre. Go see this one. Keira Knightley shines brightly as Lizzie Bennet and Matthew MacFadyen is very good as Mister Darcy. 18th century England never looked more exciting, plus Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn as mumsey and pop are perfect. Judi Dench walks in as lady somebody, steals the screen every second she's on it, then exits royally. It's all lots of fun and well worth your time.

INNOCENT VOICES. Director Luis Mandoki has done such films as Angel Eyes, Trapped, and White Palace. His directing of Innocent Voices is a huge departure from any of his other films. It's the story of young street boys from the barrio of El Salvador during the civil war of 1980 -1990. It's not anywhere the quality of City of God or Pixote. The child actors in Voices are terrible, the editing and direction are miserable, forced, amateurish, trite, and yet the story is so full of meaning and pathos that it's almost worth seeing. Yes, it does deal with the United States supplying money and troops to fight the guerrillas. But for me the hammy, contrived acting and directing took away all the importance of what the film was trying to convey.

KISS KISS BANG BANG. This film tries hard to be clever, sophisticated, hip, cool and it almost succeeds. Robert Downey jr and Val Kilmer play Los Angeles types and it works. Do not attempt to make any sense out of the plot. It isn't meant to be logical or even possible...just cool. The dialogue is just dialogue. Downey narrates it and that doesn't go anywhere to explain it either. It's all copied (on purpose) from Raymond Chandler detective novels and earlier film. Go really relax and have many laughs at the genre as film people say.

EARL JACKSON'S FILM NIGHT. The free films continue Wednesdays at 7 p.m. 101 Baskin Auditorium UCSC, public welcome. Stay for the wild and ranging discussions that follow each screening. This week (Nov. 16th) its Kiyoung's The Housemaid. The Housemaid (Kim Kiyoung 1960) was inspired by a scandalous affair between a homeowner and a housemaid in the late 1950s. But what Kim does with it exceeds both the original incident and the parameters of what was acceptable in Korean film culture - for generations to come. Kim went on to rework this story in three other films: Woman of Fire, Woman of Fire '82, and Carnivore - but none of these equaled the claustrophobic horror of the original. An unusual cinematic experience that still generates controversy today.

CRUZAN CUBA FILM SERIES. You can see the Cuban documentary film The Other Side of the Mirror, which details Operation Peter Pan, Thursday November 17 at 7 p.m. at the Live Oak Grange, 1900 17 th Avenue between Capitola road and Highway 1. Operation Peter Pan was when 14,000 Cuban children were sent to the USA in 1961 by their parents because they thought the new government would take them away and the Catholic Church encouraged the parents to do this. Gina Val Leiva, a local resident and a former Peter Pan child will be at the screening and will talk about what that experience meant to her. Call 465-8272 for info, tickets at the door.

HOWARD RUMSEY'S LIGHTHOUSE FILM. There was such a thing as west coast jazz and Ken Koenig documents that part of jazz history during the 50's and 60's that took place at Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. I've seen the film, it's excellently and lovingly produced. It has been shown at jazz festivals and has earned rave reviews. It'll be shown at The Kuumbwa Jazz Center this Thursday night. Doors open at 6 P.M. for dinner and the film starts at 7 P.M. For more information about the film go to www.roseking.org. Pre-purchase of tickets is advised. Advance tickets are available from TicketWeb or phone (866) 777-TWEB and at Logos Books and Records.

SANTA CRUZ ARCHTECTURE. Don't pay any attention to the "i" that's missing from Archtecture, you'll see why later. John Leighton Chase will be at The Museum of Art & History, 705 Front Street, this Saturday from 1-3 pm to sign copies of his 3rd edition of Santa Cruz Archtecture. There aren't many good reference books on our fair city; this is one of the very best of them. If you have friends who like old historical photos of Santa Cruz and you know who you are, this would be a great present. The research and devotion that John Leighton Chase put into this book makes it a necessity. I have used John's book just about every week to get historic details on captioning the weekly photos for many years, I'll meet you at the signing.

NATIONAL STAND DOWN DAY... (from many emailed bulletins)
PLEASE JOIN PEOPLE IN COMMUNITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FOR NATIONAL STAND DOWN* DAY (NSDD), a day of coordinated actions calling for an end to this war, being held at Military Recruitment Centers all over the United States!! Our emphasis for this action will be serious and somber, a realistic look at the human costs of this war. Over 2040 American soldiers are dead, and over 15,000 are grievously wounded. Over 100,000 Iraqis, mostly civilians, are dead and grievously wounded. And the Bush Regime has no intention of withdrawal!

THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ACTION happens on Friday, November 18th at the Military Recruitment Center on 41st Avenue (2121 41st Ave) - from 3 to 5PM. This location is a public sidewalk with lots of traffic going by, and a stoplight at a nearby corner that slows the traffic down! (going toward the ocean on 41st Ave, the Recruiting Center is on the right hand side between the frontage road next to Highway 1 and Clares Street, across from Master Car Wash)

Please join us and bring:

• Large Signs that are easy to read by those passing by! (we will have extras!)
• Photos and Posters that show the Dead and Injured, ours and theirs.
• Gongs, chimes, and simple hand drums to beat a slow dirge. If you can, please wear black or red.

We will have a hand bill with current statistics and information on the human and economic costs of the war to hand out to motorists and pedestrians going by. In many communities around the country, groups will be doing blockades and civil disobedience on this day. Though we have not planned such action for this event, if you are considering doing civil disobedience, please come well prepared!

NSDD is being coordinated nationally by the Iraq Pledge of Resistance, a group deeply committed to nonviolent principles. Good guidelines/materials can be seen and downloaded at http://www.iraqpledge.org

And please distribute this announcement widely!!

Participating Groups include (a growing list): Code Pink Santa Cruz, Women in Black SC, the Coalition for Impeachment Now! (COIN!), Pax Christi, the GI Rights and Draft Alternatives Program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), S.C. Art & Revolution Convergence, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) of SC, Peace and Freedom Party of SC, the Green Party of SC, the Santa Cruz Peace Coalition (SCPC), the Santa Cruz Weapons Inspection Team (WIT)...

*Stand Down is a term used by the military for days when they have training, reviews etc., and so "stand down" from their normal duties - let us "stand down" for an hour or two from our normal activities and bring this war and occupation to an end!

QUOTES. "It's so long since I've had sex I've forgotten who ties up whom." -Joan Rivers. "The quickest way to a man's heart is through his chest." -Roseanne Barr. "If it weren't for pickpockets and frisking at airports, I wouldn't have any sex life at all." -Rodney Dangerfield.

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Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.