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From the Editor

Thursday, 08 March 2012 15:09 Greg Archer Columns - Editors Note
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greg archerStop what you’re doing. Sit still for a moment and just ... be. That might prove challenging for some of us. Regardless, there’s no telling what you might observe when you’re not busy paying attention to all the busyness in your life.

Something I noticed: A fundraiser for 7-year-old Ishmael Gomez. The son of Joel Gomez, Ishmael is a student at Main Street Elementary in Soquel. He suddenly lost his eyesight about a month ago and is now under care at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford Medical Center to determine the possible causes of the blindness. His father Joel has worked as a busser at Caffe Lucio in Santa Cruz for five years. To assist with expenses as doctors attempt to uncover the medical mystery, restaurant owner Lucio Fanni is donating 25 percent of all sales to the Gomez family on Thursday, March 8, and he’s inviting everyone to come in for the cause—381 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Visit caffelucio.com or call 427-0164. Check out our visit to Lucio’s at GTv at goodtimessantacruz.com.

It’s great to hear about locals helping out. Foster Gamble and Kimberly Carter Gamble hope to do just that with their new documentary Thrive. It’s a compelling endeavor and one that is filled with many layers—from science to activism. At the core, though, it’s the unique tale of one man’s vision (Foster’s) to not only understand how human beings can actually “thrive” on the planet, but to also offer tools to help make it happen. There’s more. (There’s always more.) Jump into the story. In the meantime, what can you do this week to ... thrive?

And don’t forget about our Marilyn Monroe Look-alike Contest. The woman named Artichoke Queen in the 1948 Castroville Artichoke Festival is once again garnering attention locally. This week, turn to page 24 and peruse the five finalists of the contest. Photos of the five were taken by local photographers Virginia Morgan Scott, Gail Nichols and Jeffery J. Luhn. Styling was done by The Last Resort salon in Soquel. All that’s left is for you to vote for your favorite. Dive in ...

Thanks for reading. More soon ...

Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief
Letters to the Editor

Desal Dilemma
Good Times got it flat wrong in stating "Because 2013 is not a regular voting year, it's looking like either desal initiative would require a special election" (GT 3/1). As clearly stated in the City Attorney's summary of the petition being circulated by the Right to Vote on Desal, if this measure passes, the Santa Cruz City Council would have to obtain authorization of a desal project by a majority of City voters "at a statewide general, statewide primary, or regularly scheduled municipal election" before the Council could approve construction of a desal plant. Thus, this citizens' initiative would not result in a costly special election. It would require the Council to add this measure to the ballot for an election that will occur anyway, but only if the Council continues with its unwise plan to go forward with a desal plant. If by some miracle the Council were to see the error of its ways and drop its desal ambitions, no election would be required to allow that.
Jeff Alford
Santa Cruz

Best Online Comments

On ‘The Faces of Fishing’ ...
I love the idea of buying locally harvested seafood direct from the fishermen for all the reasons this article mentions, but going to Half Moon Bay for it is impractical. Where and when can I buy it around the Monterey Bay?
—Deligha

If you look on the Faces website on the 'Find ports and vendors' page, we list several places where you can get locally caught seafood. However, this is not a perfect list, and sometimes companies have to augment their inventory with other domestic or imported species. So the best thing you can do is learn what species are caught locally (also on our site) and otherwise ask your vendor where it came from. Even if it came from Northern California West Coast, or somewhere in the U.S., it's better than overseas!
—Melissa Stevens

On ‘Emannuel Yeboah’ ..
Emmanuel is such an inspiration to me! I love what he lives for! I am so honored he is coming to Santa Cruz and will be at Inner Light Ministries! Let's support who supports us! Big Love to Emmanuel and his supporters.
—Dawni Pappas

Emmanuel is an amazing man of action and leader that inspires. After years of working in Africa, I find him to be emblematic of the kind of talented and creative individuals we rarely are exposed to in the U.S.
—Jen Astone

On ‘Oral Health Without Flouride’ ..
Keepers of the Well.org is an informative website that focuses on the unapproved products used to fluoridate public drinking water and presents documented and highlighted published information rather than opinion and anecdotal stories. I've never thought of it as "an organization.” With the exception of hearing Congresswoman Jackie Speier make the monumental error of calling the National Institute of Dental Research "an anti-fluoridation organization" on a radio program in 1996, I think she has just been out-errored! It's slightly more amazing to hear The Denver Post newspaper and dental journals such as Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Public Health Reports, Pediatric Nursing, Pediatric Dentistry, the California Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control, referred to as "anti-fluoride.”
—Maureen Jones

On ‘Neighborhood Watch’ ...
Why don't they just say "We're having a problem. The city of Santa Cruz was going to make the current working class residents of lower Ocean Street homeless like we've done with so many other non-rich people who live here but Jerry Brown dismantled the 'redevelopment' agencies."
—Razer Ray
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