Plus Letters To the Editor
When I wrote about Matthew Swinnerton taking over the Nexties in a cover story last year, someone asked me about the in-depth profiles of the awards show and all of the winners—in effect, “Why the Nexties?” There are other prestigious awards to be won in Santa Cruz, true, and they generally don’t get a spot on GT’s cover.
To me, it’s uncanny how closely the Nexties are aligned with what we try to do here at GT. The awards celebrate the “entrepreneurial spirit,” to use a shorthand definition, but at their most basic level what they really do is bring attention to locals who are doing great work in this community, and that’s one of our goals every week. All of the Nextie winners deserve to be the subject of GT stories—some have been previously, but others are just on the cusp of doing something great, and I think the biggest thing the Nexties have going for them is catching many winners just as they’re about to have their biggest impact. These aren’t retrospective lifetime achievement awards, they’re looking forward—just like the Nextie winners. Get to know them and the work they’re doing in this week’s cover story, and see you at the awards ceremony on May 15.
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Breeding Suspicion
I was enjoying the seemingly well-informed article citing the differences between farmed and wild salmon (GT, 5/6) when I came across the erroneous statement that by crossing a farmed Atlantic salmon and a wild Pacific salmon breed, “you get the salmonid equivalent of a pony: an infertile halfling that further dilutes the wild population.” A pony by definition is a small horse. It is neither infertile nor a halfling. It may be that Mr. Steingrube doesn’t know the difference between a pony and a mule. If not, it makes me wonder if he actually knows the difference between a wild and a farmed salmon.
Peter Weiser, Bonny Doon
Organic Pesticides
Too bad that Mathew Renda doesn’t know or doesn’t take the opportunity to educate and dispel some of the uninformed fear and negativity about pesticide use.
There is legitimate concern about toxic substances in our environment, but not all pesticides are toxic. Of the synthetic and natural botanical substances that are classified as “pesticides,” many are organic-program compatible and are not toxic to mammals (people and pets).
Matthew has written a good article on a disturbing subject, but has missed an important point and done a disservice, in my opinion, by jumping on the paranoia bandwagon and not making the effort to distinguish what exact substances he is reporting on. Just because farmworkers or landscapers or tree care professionals like myself are spraying, doesn’t mean that they are spraying highly toxic chemicals.
A brief primer on pesticide categories can be found at livingwithbugs.com/organic.
Don Cox, Scotts Valley
ONLINE COMMENTS
Re: Toxic Classrooms
I taught at Ohlone and Pajaro schools in PVUSD and both were next to agricultural fields. The district said that they would measure the amount of pesticides on the play equipment at Ohlone School. We were told that they were low. The wind blows toward the school all afternoon. I think that pesticides, especially methyl bromide and others that are used to kill all insect life in the ground, are especially dangerous.
— Peter Hatch
Re: Ate3One
This food truck is special. Six of us were at the Corralitos Brewing Company last Saturday (no food available there though they should consider pretzels) and when the Ate3One truck rolled up there was a stampede for food. Their stuff is so fresh we all had to actually wait 10 minutes for them to get set up. Well worth the wait—great variety and quality. This is no taco truck!
— Jerry Giovacchini
Santa Cruz city and unincorporated areas: please allow food trucks such as Ate3One to service our cities! It’s sad that in a city as vital and creatively inclined as Santa Cruz, that we cannot have something as simple as a food truck. Time for a change!
— A hungry resident
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AIR BUD Four-legged friend on the sand in Aptos. Photograph by Jaime Lucas.
SHOW OF FEET
The streets of downtown Watsonville will be closed to cars Sunday, May 16—but open to bikes, pedestrians, dancers, children and musicians. Open Streets, which was a hit in Santa Cruz two years ago, moves south for the first time from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Brennan and Union streets, featuring games, art, music and health education. It will also return to West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz in October.
MONSTERS IN A BLOCK
The phrase “public works” sounds boring, but for kids, Santa Cruz’s free Public Works Day sounds like a hoot. From 1:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, kids can check out some real monster trucks, like street sweepers, asphalt rollers and giant recyclers on Lincoln Street between Cedar and Center streets. Engineers will field questions and give demos on things like composting with worms and graffiti removal.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” — Steve Jobs
