EDITOR’S NOTE
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since Jack O’Neill died. The image from our cover that week, with the sly but warm smile on O’Neill’s face, has stayed with me—whenever he comes up in conversation or in something I’m reading, it’s the first thing I think of.
It was definitely on my mind reading Geoffrey Dunn’s cover story this week. This story wasn’t conceived to mark the anniversary of O’Neill’s death or anything like that; it’s pure coincidence that his ocean stewardship project is celebrating taking its 100,000th student on their first educational ocean voyage.
And yet, I think it turned out to be one anyway, because the success of the O’Neill Sea Odyssey Program is exactly the kind of thing that was behind that slightly mystical smile. The story explains that O’Neill wasn’t just an ocean enthusiast who was able to make a living off his passion. He was also a fierce advocate for the well-being of the ocean, who wanted everyone to love the sea the way he did. In light of that, Dunn argues, the Sea Odyssey Program might be his most important achievement. After reading this story, you might agree.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Read the latest letters to the editor here.
Heartbreaking Epidemic
Thank you for writing about the heartbreaking epidemic of whale entanglements on the West Coast (GT, 6/12). The whale rescuers do such important work, but it’s time for California to better manage the commercial crab fishery to prevent more of these entanglements from happening in the first place, before they kill or injure endangered whales. That’s why we at the Center for Biological Diversity sued the state, and we’re still waiting for it to meet its legal obligations to protect whales, particularly in entanglement hot spots like the Monterey Bay. We’ve had enough talk over the last three years as entanglements skyrocketed. It’s time for action.
Steven Jones
Center for Biological Diversity
Million-Dollar Question
Re: “Getting Inpatient” by Andrea Patton, (GT, 6/13): In this article, Pam Rogers-Wyman, HSA Adult Services Director, is quoted as saying: “Our unspent funds are less than $3 million. That’s been really a misnomer that we’re sitting on millions of dollars. I think we’ve tried to correct it several times.” This brief statement would appear to contradict itself.
Larry Peterson
Santa Cruz
Quality of Life Issue
Populations of homeless will continue to grow nationwide. Homeless shelters and rent subsidies are not keeping up. Evictions are spiking across the country. Sight unseen are the numbers of individuals and families who go broke between paychecks, making ends meet by substituting junk food. High rents force poor diets that contribute to diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, depression, poor grades and crime.
Rent control will help a little, but rents are already unconscionably high.
Of course real estate agents, brokers, and property management trolls do protest. They are the parasites in our society that get rich producing nothing, except buy a house, tack on an extra 50 grand, and re-sell it. The same house for which a family must work an extra 5-10 years to pay off, and spend less time with their children. No summer science camp for them.
Don’t let them scare you into thinking you’ll not be able to evict. First, there’s the lease contract. That can expire. If the contract is broken by illegal activity, the rent control eviction clause won’t stop you from evicting them.
The most ridiculous warning came from a broker saying we should worry that rich people could be protected by rent control, too. Rent control doesn’t discriminate. That’s a job for property managers who see people as nothing more than a credit rating.
Billy Quealy
Santa Cruz
CST Clarity
Thank you, Inna Dagman and Maria Grusauskas, for bringing craniosacral therapy to the public’s attention (GT, 5/29). I appreciate the clarity with which the modality is presented and the writer’s experiences are shared. As a craniosacral therapist myself, I know how hard it can be to describe what it is I am doing (or allowing to happen).
Thank you, Inna, for your courage and your big, non-judgmental love for all beings.
Sonja Morgner | CranioSacral Therapist
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
Submit to [email protected]. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
The Bye Bye Mattress program will accept old mattresses and box springs free of charge Saturday, June 23, at 207 Natural Bridges Drive from 8 a.m. to noon. Officials will accept up to five items per vehicle. The city of Santa Cruz accepts mattresses and box springs, also free of charge, Monday through Saturday at the Dimeo Lane landfill off Highway 1. The city received more than 5,000 mattresses last year, up 900 over 2016.
GOOD WORK
Funded by a $2.2 million Housing and Urban Development grant, Santa Cruz County has announced money for seven projects to address youth and young adult homelessness. According to the 2017 Point-in-Time Count, there are 588 homeless unaccompanied minors and young adults under 24 locally, and 87 percent of homeless youth were living in Santa Cruz County at the time they became homeless, but are unable to find housing in Santa Cruz County’s housing market.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
I’m not much into business; I’m into the ocean.
-Jack O’Neill
