Santa Cruz Couple Are Considered Celebrities At Local Karaoke Bar

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, September 18, 2025…

• Almost every night for nearly three decades in Santa Cruz,  Bob and Patti Vasconcellos have gotten a little gussied up. They throw their walkers in the trunk and head to their local karaoke bar. Their performances have made them local celebrities.
• California’s oil industry regulator is expecting gasoline prices to rise through the end of the year– and is calling on refineries to help.

Almost every night for the last 25 years, Bob and Patti Vasconcellos (81 and 78, respectively) have gotten a little gussied up, thrown their walkers in the trunk of their Honda CRV, and headed to their favorite karaoke bar—Coasters in Santa Cruz.

On a Friday night in August, the bar is packed. Locals, tourists, and college students sit at tables that surround a wooden dance floor, where people take turns singing. When Bob and Patti hit the floor with their walkers, the crowd goes wild.

Throughout the night, they each sing a few songs. Patti belts out “She Believes in Me” by Kenny Rogers. Bob croons John Denver’s “Country Roads.” At the end of the night, Bob puts up a special hand signal to let the host know they’re ready to perform their signature number. “If I get his attention and he sees it, it’s in,” Bob said. Once the dulcet tones of “My Humps” by The Black Eyed Peas start pumping through the speakers, they know it’s time. For the next four minutes, shocked faces and gleeful screams fill the room.

The duo has turned into a local celebrity couple. Melissa Gray, the bar manager at Coasters, said people ask about them all the time. She can also spot newcomers a mile away based on their reaction to a “My Humps” performance. They’re at Coasters at least 350 nights a year, according to Patti. A big reason they go so often is the sense of community it gives them.

The Division of Petroleum Market Oversight said an expected drop in oil refining in California could push gas prices up. In a letter to state lawmakers this week, the regulator urged refineries to help prevent that by replacing lost fuel supplies and keeping inventories high.

“Making sure that we can line up the imports we need and can get them in through the ports, that we have the pipeline capability to manage them and that we have the storage capability to hang on to them,” said UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein.

Since mid-August, retail gasoline prices have risen in California by about 16 cents per gallon, with the highest increases in Southern California. Regulators are also advising consumers to shop around and consider buying generic or unbranded gasoline.