We have the pleasure to talk to the family of Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Ritchie Valens. He was the first Chicano to reach such accomplishments.

On this episode of Talk of the Bay, From the Streets, host Omar Dieguez interviewed multiple members of the Ritchie Valens family, including his brother’s daughters Brenda Morales and Bly Morales Chandler, and Bly’s husband Mike Chandler. Learn about the family which nurtured Ritchie Valens, including the relationship he had with his brother, Bob Morales. Locals will relish hearing about the world premiere of the film, “La Bamba” in Watsonville. This show warms your heart with all the memories and reflections of a family filled with love, loss, laughter and togetherness. We will discuss his music his brother Bob and his family originally from San Fernando Valley who later moved to Watsonville, California. We will also talk about about the upcoming remake of the movie La Bamba!

I am traveling in Italy, in the Garfagnana region, a hilly, remote valley with ancient hilltowns and castles. In the small town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, we come upon a protest organized by the villagers decrying conditions in Gaza. Here is what we recorded from the few who could speak English.

Our intrepid Squid on the Street, UCSC Humanities intern, Maury Burnett-Cavoto asked people how they feel about traveling out of the country under Trump’s current border security crackdowns.

On KSQD’s Talk of the Bay, host Omar Diegez speaks with Bobby Pelz, Ethnic Studies teacher at the Pajaro Valley High School, and Caroline Kuspa, of Jews for a Free Palestine.  They discuss the curriculum in the school district and the recent tensions and controversies, around the failed censure of trustee Gabe Medina.

The host was Omar Diguez. 

Our guests discussed what it’s like to be in recovery, the sense of desperation, seeking healing though ceremonies. many different forms of recovery through twelve step programs and spiritual practices such as praying at sweat lodges.  

One guest, Eric,  a resident of Salinas, has been in recovery for 14 years. He helps many people in recovery to find a better path in life in both English and Spanish. Our other guest was Sergio, a 17 year old youth who has found recovery after working with his mentor to find a higher power and spirituality to stay clean. Sergio was incarcerated at juvenile hall and started working with Omar through Barrios Unidos turning around his life after learning about recovery and aspects of indigenous teachings.

“From the Streets,” is a new Talk of the Bay series, hosted by Omar Dieguez.  His guests for this show were Professor Christine Hong of UC Santa Cruz and Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee, Gabriel Medina. They discuss the dedicated community work that recently led to the reinstatement of ethnic studies in the Pajaro Valley school district.

“From the Streets,” is a new Talk of the Bay series, hosted by Omar Dieguez.  His guests are Roy Recio, Watsonville native and founder of the Tobera Project, preserving Fililpino immigrant history in the Pajaro Valley; and marine ecologist Nat Low of Aptos, director of the Asian American Justice and Innovation Lab. They discuss their dedicated community work that recently led to the reinstatement of ethnic studies in the Pajaro Valley school district.

On Talk of the Bay host Andrew Schoneberg interviews leaders from the Carmel Foundation, a non-profit service organization that facilitates successful aging by providing a rich spectrum of interactive activities and services for the ever-changing physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs for those 55 and older. Have a listen to learn about the history of the Carmel Foundation and the powerful outcomes it facilitates for its members as they transition into their elder years.

Members enjoying some time together on the beautiful patio of the Carmel Foundation.

Some of the services offered to Foundation members include:

The Carmel Foundation also partners with senior-serving agencies to provide additional services such as:

Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration activist. He tells the story of coming to the U.S. as a child, unaware that he was entering without legal documents. His 31-year quest to obtain legal status led to a life of hiding until he “came out” in a New York Times article titled, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”. Vargas, who was born in the Philipines, talks about the prospect of seeing his mother for the first time since he was twelve and the cost to families of being separated by law and geography. His new project is called “Define American” and includes documentary films, short features and a podcast.

Then, we hear from Brenda Avila, programmer at the Watsonville Film Festival about how the protagonist of one of the films recently screened at the festival, Jeanette Vizguerra, was recently arrested by ICE at her job, and sent to a detention center in Aurora Colorado, most likely targeted due to her increased profile via the film. We also hear from the filmmaker, Theo Rigby, who created “Si Pudiera Quedarme” (If I Could Stay) about Jeannette Vizguerra and other asylum seekers who seek sanctuary in houses of worship.

In this show, engineer Sandy Stone and board chair Rachel Anne Goodman reminisce about the circuitous route that KSQD’s founders took in getting on the air.

Here is something I wrote up trying to capture a lot of the milestones.

Our story:

Once upon a time back in the 1970’s there was a visionary writer and entrepreneur named Lorenzo Milam who had some money and an audacious dream that if you gave regular people access to a radio microphone, they would make their community a better place to live,  or in his words, “to walk their walk, and talk their talk and know that they and the rest of the world are not irrevocably dead.”

Among the many community stations he founded throughout the U.S. was KUSP in Santa Cruz, California, run by the ‘Pataphysical Broadcasting Foundation. At first it was in a tiny space and run on a shoestring with mostly volunteers and a skeleton crew. Then it grew bigger, got CPB funding, had a full staff, five translators, and reached four counties.

At first, the programming was eclectic beyond belief.  Programmed by mostly volunteers, characters like Corky Walsh, The Hamster of Love, Vicky Bolam, Tim Eagan, Paul Hostetter, Don Mussell, Leigh Hill, Lance Linares, Nikki Silva and more,, the programs ranged from Tibetan nose flute to Indian ragas to modern classical to bluegrass and beyond. There were public auctions at the Octogon Museum and Cajun Chomp and Stomp concerts and remotes from Kuumbwa and the Catalyst, Monterey Jazz and Bach Festivals.

The spirit that imbued the station then was to play music that was unknown to the audience.  Because it was the only game in town, it could be a trend setter. This went on for almost two decades. And then KUSP began running NPR programs, just All Things Considered and Morning Edition at first. Nobody else had done that. It was popular. NPR audiences began asking for more NPR shows. They would pay good money for them. Soon, that was the majority of programming on the station. Names like Terry Gross, Noah Adams, Susan Stamberg and Garrison Keillor became better known than local djs.  Eventually, as the station leadership grew more money-focused, they relied more heavily on NPR, and most of the volunteers were “fired” in favor of paid announcers who management could depend on to read exactly what they were told, no more, no less. So much for talking the talk, eh, Lorenzo?

Then in the late nineties, KAZU in Pacific Grove, a local community radio station, went bankrupt, giving its license to CSUMB, who commenced to run all NPR, too. The format wars between KAZU and KUSP, and the loss of exclusivity in NPR branding, left KUSP bankrupt and deeply in debt to NPR. In a last ditch effort to save its debt-ridden organization, the station went all “Triple A” format, fired its manager Terry Green, and brought in consultant Lee Ferraro from Minneapolis who said publicly he disliked Santa Cruz. It’s no wonder. He was hired to fire the rest of the local voices and put in a kind of bland indie “Triple -A” pop music that was supposed to attract a new, younger audience. This did not work to save KUSP financially and he soon packed up and (no doubt relieved) high-tailed it back to the mid-west.

As KUSP was heading toward bankruptcy, a group calling itself “KUSP Forward” was formed to try to persuade its board of directors to downsize and go all-volunteer as a bail out plan. Hundreds showed up to a public board meeting at Loudon Nelson Center pleading with the board to change course. Their proposal was rejected and the station went bankrupt in 2016 under a debt load of $850,000. The last broadcast was in August of that year. Many tears were shed and friendships lost over its demise, which many said was preventable. Others disagreed. Either way, it was over.

Late in the day on Christmas eve, I went down to the station where there was a bankruptcy liquidation sale underway.  A guy whose name I think was Sharky