Six months ago, I spoke with Sally Arnold, the Friends of the Rail and Trail Board Chair, about their vision for Santa Cruz County. The non-profit was created in 2002 with the end goal of “a 32-mile rail corridor and pedestrian pathway from Davenport to Watsonville.” Arnold and I caught up this past week, and while FORT’s motivations remain the same, Arnold was excited to share the newest updates on the transportation system.  On June 24th, FORT launched Coast Connect, their newest campaign, with hopes of creating more community support for the Rail and Trail system.  Arnold immediately dove in and explained the need for Coast Connect, “FORT has always been very policy focused and we really excel at that, but it’s so easy for community members to get lost in the details. We realized there was a bell curve of understanding in our community.  We have outliers with strong opinions, but mostly a huge portion of people that don’t know what’s going on with the rail and trail.  How do we reach the middle group and share this excitement with the general public? They’re the ones who will really benefit.” COVID-19 has also thrown a wrench into the wheel of public understanding.  Arnold lamented, “We can’t go to farmer’s markets, fairs, and parades.  We have such a great dedicated team of volunteers that can’t work, so how do we get the news out?”  Like many community members, FORT was in dire need of socialization.  Enter Coast Connect, “FORT’s primary face to the community… As a clear explanation of our broader vision to the community, Coast Connect will be a vital piece of FORT’s comprehensive transportation system throughout the county and beyond.” So far, Coast Connect has attracted quite the list of endorsers, like Justin Cummings, John Leopold, John Laird, Donna Meyers, and Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. Much like Coast Connect’s role in FORT, Arnold was eager to move away from the details, and instead passionately addressed the benefits of this future transportation system.  “It’ll improve the economy, environment, and our community’s health, safety, and equity… So many commuters are cut out of jobs and educational opportunities.  Access to easy and safe public transport is the answer to these inequities.” Arnold hopes the new campaign will drum up public support and encourage awareness, “that FORT isn’t just about the Rail and Trail, it’s a unified vision of what could happen, it’s shared, and it belongs to anyone that wants to implement it, whether making neighborhood streets more walkable, improving Metro Bus routes, or getting on a bike.” On top of the new campaign, Arnold proudly summarized other recent FORT achievements.  “A lot of our work is invisible, it doesn’t look like anything is happening, until it’s almost done.  We’re now beginning to pull things together, the West Side trail between Bay and California will open in the fall, and the neighbors already love it. We’ve finished the design on the Bay to Wharf segment and are applying for funding soon.  A Watsonville segment will also be finished this fall.”  In addition to trail segment construction, Arnold had much to say about the rail as well. “We’re moving towards our own little Promontory Point moment.  The Watsonville City Council just voted unanimously to tell the RTC that they want the rail on the corridor and construction should start in Watsonville first.  The Pajaro Station will link to the rest of the state and the rest of the world.  Commuters will easily travel from Watsonville to Gilroy, Salinas, and Monterey.”  Finally, the RTC is currently conducting a study on 4 different potential vehicles, 2 bus and 2 rail, and will recommend one this fall.  It might be difficult to take in so many wonderful developments! But don’t worry, you can now keep up with and voice your support for FORT’s fast-moving vision at coastconnect.org.

Josh Howard had a smile people remembered. Whether traversing the halls at San Lorenzo Valley High School, playing with his young sisters or boarding the bus to head to one of his three jobs, Josh had an upbeat attitude and an ear-to-ear grin. It was that smile, his mom Kelley says, that made Josh the light of her life. That smile shines no more, as Josh was killed in 2019. “I want the individuals of the court to imagine if this had happened to their child—that a local community member with a 20 year history in and out of jail for various criminal offenses drove intoxicated and reckless and killed their child.” (Victim Impact Statement (VIS) excerpt.) It’s with a grief-wracked voice that Kelley Howard recalls his memorial service, and tells of the many strangers who approached her that day to share memories of Josh’s positive impact on their own lives. She talks about how her young daughters, Charlotte and Lily, remember things like Josh’s favorite color (blue), or how he loved to play board games with Charlotte, and take Lily on walks. “They only have positive memories of him,” Kelley says, “and I’m so grateful for that.” Gratitude is tough to find when your only son is killed by another human being. Josh Howard was walking along Highway 9 in Felton when a vehicle driven by Jeremy Shreves crossed over the white fog line on the road. The passenger in the car tried to warn Shreves of Howard’s presence on the highway, but Shreves didn’t react as quickly as he should have—a meth-addled brain doesn’t work like a normal brain—and he hit and killed Josh instantly on February 21, 2019, his sister Charlotte’s fifth birthday. “Think of the absolute horror and despair…the unbearable pain that you cannot escape. Think of how you would feel, the guilt that you were not there next to your child, that they were alone.” (VIS) In the nearly 17 months since Josh’s death, Kelley has battled depression as she navigates the court and judicial system in the pursuit of justice and understanding. She has joined MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), met with Assembly member Mark Stone and Supervisor Bruce McPherson; she’s spoken with CalTrans personnel about improvements for pedestrians along the Highway 9 corridor and received support from a victim’s advocacy group. In an effort to prevent a similar tragedy, Kelley has found her voice. “There’s not much I can do with the justice system,” she says. “I can’t change anything, but I need to protect other families and prevent anyone else from going through this.” “Now think how you would feel when you found out just four months after the death of your child this individual was again driving in your community while intoxicated. After knowing this fact, think how difficult it would be to see this individual walking around your neighborhood, free, without a care in the world. (VIS) On July 6th, Shreves was sentenced to seven months in county jail. Seven months. The District Attorney and public defender had made a deal, Kelley said, and though she knew what the elements of it included, it took her breath away to hear it said out loud. First, though, she read her victim impact statement to the judge. “Even with continued grief therapy, you will keep reliving this traumatic time in your life. This is my world.” (VIS) Jeremy Shreves is a known quantity in Santa Cruz County. He has a long county record—he’s been in and out of jail ten times in the last 20 years, and was charged with armed robbery in Santa Cruz about 15 years ago. Before killing Josh, Kelley says Shreves “hadn’t hurt anyone, but was a ticking time bomb.” After Josh’s death, Shreves was still out on the streets pending the results of the toxicology report. Four months later, Shreves got a DUI. “It’s hard to forgive him [for killing Josh] because he made that choice to drive intoxicated after the accident.” The drug results from the February accident came back in December—it took ten months to run his blood panel. Kelley was furious. “The Santa Cruz District Attorney kept checking in with the DOJ. The statute of limitations to prosecute Shreves was one year. The results from the blood panel showed that Shreves had meth in system,” Kelley says. On December 24, 2019, Shreves was picked up on a warrant—he had failed to show up for the second DUI hearing. “Releasing Jeremy Shreves back into the public allows the opportunity for another parent to lose a child. Jeremy has proven that he will drive on a suspended license while intoxicated even though he already took my child’s life. Where is the justice for Josh and our community? The justice system’s job is to protect. Releasing a habitual criminal so quickly after such a terrible and horrendous crime does not feel like proper justice or more importantly protection for the community. Habitual offenders are very likely to re-offend and I fear for the safety of my two young girls and this community. The system is failing in keeping our community safe.” (VIS) Shreves has been in jail since last December, charged with misdemeanor manslaughter in Josh Howard’s death. Misdemeanor manslaughter is synonymous with unintentional manslaughter—it’s killing without intent, so the penalty is greatly reduced. In Shreves’ case, his one year sentence was reduced by half. Jails that are prone to overcrowding generally offer time off for good behavior—as a result, Shreves will be released back into the community by the time this edition goes to print. And the kicker? Kelley says that because Shreves served over six months, he’ll have a credit for the next time he gets incarcerated. “I don’t believe time of sentencing should be shortened for “good behavior.” Not being problematic in jail does not change the fact that Jeremy Shreves’ choice and actions led to a crime that killed my son. How am I to live in my community with seeing him? How would you feel?” (VIS) Kelley says that if community members have suggestions on how to start to change our laws, she wants to be involved in that. “I don’t know where to start,” Kelley says. “I want to make a change and be a voice that is heard. We hear about jails being overpopulated and that’s not okay—we can’t just let people go free so they have the opportunity to commit more crimes. It shouldn’t take a death for things to change. Even with a death, nothing has changed.” Kelley is quiet for a moment. “I miss him no matter what. I want to tell his story and make a change for the better.” Next week: Part II, a deeper dive into criminal justice and sentencing guidelines.

Mr. George Wylie, Trustee of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, delivered his resignation letter to the County Office of Education and SLVUSD effective, July 1, 2020.

Social media has been awash in videos capturing the use of 911 as an abuse against Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). We’re not talking about the George Floyd incident, but instances where Caucasians summon law enforcement as a means of leverage against BIPOC. These callers (women are referred to as “Karen”) inflate a reasonable conversation or simple request into a call for assistance, generally asserting that an assault or crime is taking place—or will be soon unless the police respond. •    Amy Cooper, who has since become known as “Central Park Karen,” called 911 when a Black man asked her to leash her dog in a birding area in the park where signage required such restraints. Her call to the police (which was recorded by Christian Cooper, no relation) was preceded by Amy Cooper saying, “I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.” On July 6th, Amy Cooper was charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. •    On June 29th, a Hampton Inn employee in Williamston, North Carolina called the police to report “trespassers” in the hotel pool. The two children and their mom, who were visiting from Raleigh, are Black; the Caucasian hotel employee is no longer with the company. •    Twitter user “Jamietoons” posted his interaction with a Caucasian couple on June 11th. James Juanillo, who identifies as a BIPOC, was stenciling “Black Lives Matter” on the retaining wall in front of his San Francisco home when the man and woman approached him and accused him of “committing a crime.” Juanillo said what the woman did is, “polite racism. It's respectable racism. 'Respectfully, sir I don't think you belong here.’" Assembly member Mark Stone has had enough of incidents like these. In February of 2019, he introduced amendments to Assembly Bill 1472, which would make false reports to police, including 911 calls, a violation of the Ralph Civil Rights Act when made against a person because of that person’s race or other protected characteristic. This bill would also allow for civil action against persons who make false police reports or claims, regardless of discriminatory motives. The specific language of the amendment includes: “A communication between a person and a law enforcement agency in which the person makes a false report that another person has committed, or is in the act of committing, a criminal act or is engaged in an activity requiring law enforcement intervention, knowing that the report is false, or with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the report.” Stone said, “Across California and across the country, people are again demanding that those of us in elected office deal with the systemic, institutionalized racism inherent in law enforcement and other governmental systems. Black Americans are over-policed and subject to higher rates of police brutality, use-of-force, harassment, arrest, and incarceration. This violent oppression is devastating to Black communities and contributes to higher rates of mortality and poverty, among a multitude of other negative outcomes.  In addition to Black communities, American Indian/Alaskan native and Latinx communities are also disproportionately affected by policing in America.” 10th District Senator Bob Wieckowski is a coauthor, and it was amended in the Senate on June 24, 2020. Stone and Wieckowski are talking to other members of the Senate to gather support, and they have until the end of August to get the Bill through the process.

During an open City Council meeting on June 17th, city council members listened to several passionate presentations and public opinions on rezoning the Aviza Development.  For four and a half hours the council considered the first step making Aviza a place of residency for many Scotts Valley residents, by rezoning the area from industrial to residential. However, as the length of the meeting suggests, the matter is far more complicated than simply reclassifying the area’s use. 

Memory books in honor of the late Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sergeant  Damon Gutzwiller have been placed in several San Lorenzo Valley locations.The memory books are for the two children of the slain officer, who was ambushed and killed in Ben Lomond.

This early March, Scotts Valley city officials gave sighs of relief when voters approved Measure Z, an increased sales tax to support the slowly spiraling city funds.  However, shortly after the last Press Banner editorial on the matter, the shelter in place order began and decimated two of the city’s largest resources for revenue, sales tax and hotel tax.  While the city won’t understand the effect of SIP on sales tax until later in the month (sales goes through the County first, then the City), the City Council is already aware of large drops in hotel tax.  Due to these current circumstances, despite the passing of Measure Z and rigorous City Council efforts to support local business (like the Economic Recovery Subcommittee, temporary outdoor seating, and Restart Toolkits), the City of Scotts Valley’s is moving toward budget cuts.

Most of us had hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would be slightly diminished by now so that we could resume our regularly scheduled summer plans of days at the beach, evenings around the fire pit and weekends with friends and families. We had vacations planned, tires rotated in preparation, and road trips mapped out with a beeline away from the reality of coronavirus. I dare say a lot of us are damned disappointed right now. Coronavirus cases are surging, not plummeting, across the United States, and California is looking the pandemic square in the eye as the numbers of infected continue to rise in the wake of canceled plans and stymied getaways. The 4th of July celebrations in our towns have been scrapped due to the pandemic, and that leaves local leaders looking for innovative ways to celebrate the red, white and blue while remaining socially distant and observing statewide regulations to minimize the spread. Luckily, we’re blessed with some whip-smart community folks who are thinking outside the box and endeavoring to make the best out of a less-than celebratory situation. Here’s what to look for when it comes to marking Independence Day in the valleys. Scotts Valley: Tune in for a virtual 4th of July parade and watch family, friends, sports teams, local businesses and the partially inebriated deck out their rides, horses, wagons and relatives in epic fashion. View the event online at myscottsvalley.com and the city’s social media sites including the following Facebook pages (you can quit FB after the 4th): City of Scotts Valley 4th of July, the Scotts Valley Chamber and the Press Banner. The parade will be archived for on-demand viewing throughout the entire month of July! Be sure to step outside on the 4th to watch the flyover in town from 2-3pm. Boulder Creek: The Boulder Creek Business Association has wrested the town’s plans to celebrate the 4th from the grips of the virus, and is planning to stream the Virtual 4th of July Parade and Concert on their Facebook page beginning at 10am. Contributors were asked to submit videos that panned from left to right as they will be set to a pre-planned soundtrack of spirit. Entertainment will also include music by Mira Goto, The Four Stringers, Brad Martin, Aki Kumar Band, Wildcat Mountain Ramblers and Chas Crowder. And as for a tradition that dates over 100 years? BCBA President Justin Acton is hoping to create some memories. “Our town has been doing this for so long, and I’m inspired that some important dignitaries have submitted videos, pictures and messages for our residents. We’ll have the Boulder Creek Museum submitting some great historical information, our world-famous Jazzercise dancers have a great routine planned, and the whole event will be hosted by KBCZ’s station manager Tina Davey. “The 4th of July is always such a huge community event in town—I’m looking forward to seeing how we capture that spirit.”  Other parades and events such as the World’s Shortest Parade in Aptos, the fireworks over Skypark and the pancake breakfasts hosted by Boulder Creek Fire and Ben Lomond Fire have all been scuttled by the virus. The pancake breakfasts are not only community events, but also fundraisers for the volunteer departments, and these cancellations negatively impact their bottom line. If you’d like to show your support, donations for the Boulder Creek Fire Department can be sent to 13230 Central Avenue, Boulder Creek, 95006. To help fill Ben Lomond’s coffers, donations can be mailed to 9430 Highway 9, Ben Lomond, 95005. Keep your mask on and your sparklers away from the cats, and we will see you online. 

           The recent media coverage of racial injustice sparked debate on the effectiveness of policing methods in the United States. Protests both internationally and locally raise awareness about the everyday challenges that people of color face, as well as next steps we can take to make law enforcement increasingly more fair. Several students from Scotts Valley High give their opinions about police reform.