Work continues on the new Rail Trail system, a network of bike and pedestrian paths along the old train rail that will eventually connect Watsonville to Davenport.
•
Today is Veteran’s Day. Due to the coronavirus, like just about everything else in today’s world (especially special events and gatherings), the day to honor veterans has been drastically reduced largely to virtual screen-time events. I only hope that by next year, we come off the ropes swinging and Veterans Day is bigger and better than ever: Our vets deserve it.
•
There has been a 127% spike in Covid-19 cases across America. Some folks still believe it really isn’t here, a hoax, a Democratic ploy to overthrow the election, “fake news.” A lot of this comes from our president. There are some states, I’ve read, where you can’t even tell if there is a pandemic. Stores, restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes in full swing. No masks or social distancing. And now look.
I saw on TV news that there was a family in Utah who refused to take the virus seriously, and went about daily life, carefree of warnings. They all got Covid-19. Dad died a miserable death. The mom was on the news crying, saying she couldn’t believe her husband was gone. They also didn’t believe in masks or other precautions.
•
Santa Cruz County has 3,227 cases with 26 deaths. In Monterey County there are 12,463 cases and 97 deaths. San Benito County reports 1,525 cases and 15 deaths. Across the US there are now 10, 297,300 cases and more than 240,000 deaths. On Tuesday alone there were 131,990 cases of Covid-19 across the states.
I remember when this whole thing got underway in our country in March, officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted there could be as many as 250,000 deaths and I was horrified. Now that number is nearing a commonplace household term. Meanwhile, our president tells us we are coming around the corner from the virus.
Meanwhile the CDC now is telling us that wearing masks not only offers some level of protecting others around us from contracting the virus, it also provides a shield of some degree from taking the virus aerosol droplets into our bodies. Why it took nine months for the CDC to learn this and report on it is a mystery.
Texas just became the first state to surpass 1 million cases. Santa Cruz County was one of 11 counties in California to fall back to the red tier (from orange) on the pandemic scale Tuesday, meaning more restrictions are back due to rising case numbers. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk enjoyed only three days of reopening some of their features, including some rides, when we had advanced into the orange zone. Some officials are saying that large numbers of people are becoming complacent and tired of restrictions.
•
President elect Joe Biden’s lead in votes for the White House advanced to more than 5 million votes overnight. Meanwhile, President Trump, in an effort to resist election results, is unleashing the federal government on the issue. In my lifetime, I have never seen a headline like the one in today’s New York Times: “Trump Marshals Federal Power To Oppose His Election Defeat.” Wow. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” To me, this is sounding like a coup.
