Brad Kava_Good Times, Growing Up in Santa Cruz_interviewed 2026-05-22_on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dan

Arrived in Santa Cruz in 1978 after graduating college in New York & hitch hiking acros sthe country; worked at The Independent, which later became the Metro; & the Good Times (which was across form the Cooper House, & Brad was their 1st music reviewer); went to UC Berkeley School of Journalism, interned at the New York Times, then got a job in Florida as a police report [he broke the story about the sheriff running a prostitution ring], later Kansas City Star, the Gilroy Dispatch, and Santa Cruz Patch; Brad owns "Growing Up In Santa Cruz", a local monthly paper - it's a struggle, but it's beloved; his other 2 jobs are teaching at Cabrillo College, and editing the Good Times; plus he plays in "Jam & the Butterred Biscuits", a local band that plays all originals, and who are opening the mid-town summer music festival season; celebrating his 3rd anniversary at the Good Times after being hired on Memorial Day Weekend when the previous editor published an anonymous Anti-Drag Queen letter (in Santa Cruz?!!?!?), when the owner asked him if he'd fill in for "a couple of months"; this week's AI cover story generated hate mail even before it hit the news stand, with haters lashing out at a local restaurant "The Salty Otter", whose owner - a graphic designer - worked with AI to improve her logo (or so she thought) - artist supervised AI - the AI controversy is if it will replace artists, but AI *must* be supervised; Good Times has a circulation of [30,000, & gets more ad revenue from print than digital - people cherish hard copy; Karen Crocceti and AI assisting in giant mural planning; Good Times shifted to news during the pandemic - the owner owns 17 northern California papers & is working to keep a free (& independent!) press alive!! An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Momento Maury" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!