.The Editor’s Desk

I’m disappointed to see people blaming San Francisco’s politicians for the fact that the landmark Macy’s in Union Square is shutting down.

Must we blame everything on politics?

The real reason Macy’s and countless other brick and mortar businesses are leaving, including here in Santa Cruz, is simple. Just look out your door and see how many Amazon packages there are. Every one of them is a kick in the shins to our local stores. We all knew this would happen eventually, yet people refuse to pump the brakes and shop local. There are plenty of excuses for shopping online but one has to realize, just as with all the plastic packaging we purchase  and throw away, there are consequences to our actions.

Jeffery Bezos gets another yacht and mansion, while our neighborhood store owners barely hang on. Is there any hope?

I remember when Santa Cruzans protested the opening of a chain bookstore that was threatening our two local downtown bookshops. But they missed the bigger picture. It wasn’t just a chain bookstore that was threatening, it was the online Godzilla of Amazon that wreaked havoc.

The answer is still in shopping local and patronizing merchants who keep their tax dollars in our towns. Supporting them brings an honest and genuine local smile.

On the bright side this issue features our coverage of the Watsonville Film Festival, an important landmark on the horizon that features local artists, filmmakers and car builders. What could be cooler? Check it out and see if the War song “Lowrider” doesn’t get glued to your brain. It’s stuck in mine as I read the story.

One of the most surprising things in this story is that things have indeed changed. Lowriders were illegal and harassed by law enforcement, clearly a violation of civil rights. No one was bothering the drivers of hopped-up high trucks. So, we can put equal treatment for lowriders on the list of things that have gotten better.

 And we can celebrate it at the Festival and the Porter Building, across from the Watsonville library, where there will be a lowrider exhibit through June. It will be a wildly colorful treat for the whole family.

Finally, as part of International Women’s Month, we asked residents which women they most admire. Check out their answers in the Street Talk column and drop us a line about who you think we should add to the list.

Send your feedback to [email protected]

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava

Photo Contest

LOOK UP Stunning view of the Santa Cruz Mission. Photograph by Kelly Gavin

Good Idea

California leads the country in getting energy from solar power with 27.8% of its electricity coming from solar panels, according to stats presented by Payless Power, of Texas. The state is followed by Nevada, 25.3% and Massachusetts, 24.5%.

Nevada (34,728 homes) leads in solar panels per capita and Hawaii (33,685 homes)was second. At the bottom are North Dakota (23) and West Virginia (188).Texas’ projects an increase of 38,523 megawatts and California’s anticipated growth of 20,767 megawatts in the next five years.California’s $97 billion investment in solar underscores its leading role in the solar energy revolution.

Good Works

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County acquired 14 acres of core habitat critical to the recovery of the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander. Located in the heart of Larkin Valley,

this upland wooded habitat known as Little Glen, is adjacent to a

40-acre privately held open space, creating 54 acres of contiguous

preserved habitat.

With funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board and the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, this property will be protected and

managed in perpetuity by the Land Trust.

“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.” ― Toni Morrison

Quote of the week

CORRECTION

An article in last week’s edition misstated the names of members of the Hive Poetry Collective. The are Julia Chiapella, Farnaz Fatemi, Geneffa Jahan, Julie Murphy, Dion O’Reilly and Roxi Power. Former members are Victoria Bañales and Billy Butler.

ws or the bad news first?