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A spirited and entertaining “Reefer Madness” from Renegade Theater Company at the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Santa Cruz features a talented cast and sharp visual design, but overpowering sound mutes the lyrics and blurs the show’s comic bite.

The post ‘Reefer Madness’ is a blast – if you can hear it appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Starting Monday, Dominican Hospital will share a new president, Christine McSweeney, with a hospital in Redwood City, located 47 miles north of Santa Cruz. 

Both hospitals are part of CommonSpirit Health, which is one of the largest nonprofit hospital chains in the country. 

McSweeney’s appointment represents a departure from the previous leadership structure in which Dominican Hospital’s president/chief executive officer leads only that hospital full-time. Dominican’s president, Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz, announced her retirement late last fall after overseeing the hospital for nearly 20 years. Prior to her tenure as president, Mickiewicz was chief medical officer for more than six years. 

McSweeney comes to the region after serving as president of Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley and West Valley in West Jordan, Utah, since 2023. She has more than a decade of health care administration experience, earning a master’s degree in business administration at Arizona State University, and is a fellow at the American College of Healthcare Executives.

“I am honored and excited to join Dignity Health’s California Region and lead these two distinguished hospitals,” McSweeney said in a statement. “I am deeply committed to continuing the excellent work already underway at both facilities and working collaboratively with our dedicated caregivers, staff, and the communities we serve.”

Since 1988, Dominican Hospital has been part of Catholic Healthcare West, which became Dignity Health in 2012. In 2019, the nonprofit health care chain merged with Catholic Health Initiatives to form CommonSpirit Health. BJ Predum, Central Coast market president for Dignity Health, said the hospitals are “incredibly fortunate” to welcome McSweeney. 

“Christine’s exceptional leadership, commitment to quality, and ability to foster strong teams make her the ideal person to guide Sequoia and Dominican Hospitals forward,” Predum said in a statement. 

The entrance to Dignity Health Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

McSweeney will be taking the reins of Dominican at a challenging time, with rising costs and staffing concerns. 

Crystal Crafton, chief nurse representative with the union representing the hospital’s nurses, raised those concerns but said nurses are eager to meet her.   

“As our patients know very well,” Crafton said, “Dominican has longstanding issues with understaffing, poor retention, and limited hospital capacity for our growing community. 

“We hope Ms. McSweeney recognizes the value and expertise of the nurses and the medical staff at Dominican and uses her leadership role to address these patient safety issues.”

Dominican Hospital’s CommonSpirit spokesperson, Christine McMurry, declined to answer several questions about the hire, including whether McSweeney will live in Santa Cruz and how she’ll recruit new doctors. 

“Since Ms. McSweeney is not yet serving as the CEO, I do not have additional information to share at this time,” McMurry said via email. 

Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.

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The post Dominican Hospital to share a new president with Redwood City’s Sequoia Hospital appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

A UC Santa Cruz student was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident at Bay Drive and Meder Street on Jan. 30. His high school friend and fellow UCSC student Aidan Smith has struggled to cope with the crash and has come to see it as more than just a tragic accident. The risks at Bay and Meder were already known, he writes. He believes the intersection is dangerous and urges the city to change the traffic pattern by adding a stop sign or something to slow drivers down and permit easier crossing before another life is changed forever.

The post If there had been a stop sign at Bay and Meder, my UCSC friend would be safe; the city must fix this intersection appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Community members will be celebrating Earth Day in downtown Santa Cruz along Pacific Avenue, Cooper Street and at Abbott Square Market from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 18.

The purpose of Earth Day Santa Cruz is to combine “hands-on learning opportunities for residents to learn how to properly sort waste, reduce food waste, and participate in local composting and recycling programs,” Community Development and Infrastructure spokesperson Tiffany Martinez told Lookout via phone. “That way people can come in person and have fun.”

Attendees will have the chance to connect with local organizations, explore practical ways to reduce waste and learn about programs that support environmental stewardship across Santa Cruz County.

The event will also feature live music by SambaDá, free face painting by Brenda’s Face Painting, a free photo booth from Show of Life Photobooth, a floral crown-making workshop hosted by the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery and the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, and a children’s passport program.

“It’s a free, educational and family-friendly event,” Martinez said.

This year will mark the 56th year since Earth Day was founded in 1970. Santa Cruz has participated in each of those years.

This year, Earth Day Santa Cruz will feature two new events: a sing-along with Miss Brooke and Composting 101 workshops offered every half hour (sign up here).

It’s a rain-or-shine event, so participants are encouraged to dress for the weather. 

For more information and to learn how to get involved, visit https://earthdaysc.org/.

Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.

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The post Earth Day returns to downtown Santa Cruz appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Whoever is elected this fall as governor and state superintendent of public instruction will face a new reality for California education.

The changing of the guard after the eight-year term limits for Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond will likely coincide with a belt-tightening period for the state budget, forcing tough choices for the next governor. 

A consolation prize, however, could be more authority over the California Department of Education. Newsom is proposing to shift control of the department’s operations to a new education commissioner appointed by the next governor — an arrangement common among states. The shift would diminish the power of the state superintendent, who’d be relieved of managing the education bureaucracy while remaining the state’s elected advocate-in-chief of education. 

Over the past six years, amid a burst of state revenue, Newsom and the Legislature enacted multibillion-dollar programs that redefined TK-12. They expanded TK-12 with transitional kindergarten for 4-year-olds and lengthened the school day through expanded learning. Money for apprenticeships and career pathways created post-high school opportunities, and community schools broadened connections with parents and neighborhood health services.

But the era of large-scale programs will be Newsom’s legacy, not his successor’s. Circumstances beyond the next governor’s control — continuing declines in enrollment and revenues, probably retreating to historical levels, forcing additional school closures, with a recession looming — will temper ambitions of what more can be done for California’s students.

And then there are sounds of frustration, growing louder from the picket line to the school boardroom to the hallways of Sacramento. Districts are complaining that the rollout of ambitious programs, with accompanying reporting requirements and regulations, has diverted their attention and strained their budgets.

David Roth, superintendent of Buckeye Union School District, which serves 4,200 TK-8 students in El Dorado County, was emphatic. “We don’t need new programs,” he said. Adding more, he said, would result in continued labor strife over pay raises that many districts argue they can’t afford, and “an inability to maintain the programs we have.”

Roth’s message, reiterated by others, is that schools should get back to basics, as in base funding — the portion of the state’s funding formula intended to cover general operating expenses. They want the Legislature and the next governor to make raising base funding the No. 1 priority.

Roth established Raise the Base Coalition, a website that lays out the challenge of rising costs. Forty districts have signed up so far; they are primarily suburban districts with fewer-than-average high-needs students, and therefore receive less “supplemental” and “concentration” funding under the state’s Local Control Funding Formula and other programs with similar distributions.

Opposition to equity is not the issue, Roth said. “Even districts with above-median funding are struggling to keep pace with rising costs.” When there is more money to cover basic expenses, he added, all districts benefit.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Last month, school board presidents and members from 10 districts, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, made the same point while calling for, among other things, adjustments to the funding formula to reflect regional costs.

“As those entrusted with ensuring the long-term financial viability and educational success of our public schools, we write to sound the alarm about the profound, widespread fiscal challenges districts across the state are facing,” they wrote.

At first glance, their complaints might invoke little sympathy. From 2018-19, the year preceding COVID-19, through 2024-25, funding rose 53% through Proposition 98, the formula that sets the minimum share of state revenue for TK-12 and community colleges. Per student funding from the state will rise to more than $20,000, a record.

But several factors squeezing districts’ spending will likely escalate in the coming years, demanding the next governor’s attention.

Declining enrollment: The California Department of Finance projects the nearly decade-long statewide decline in enrollment to accelerate, with an additional 10% drop by 2033-34, bringing the total to 5.2 million students. Most districts will feel it, with enrollment losses of up to 20% in some Los Angeles County districts.

Districts receive funding based on the average number of students who attend school daily over the course of a year. Adding transitional kindergarten has propped up attendance, but now that TK is fully phased in, the average daily attendance decline will bite harder in many districts.

Special education: The percentage of students with disabilities has risen from 13% in 2018-19 to 15% in 2023-24, even as overall enrollment has declined. Newsom is proposing to add $500 million next year to equalize state special education funding among districts, but the overall trend has not favored districts. The federal share of total special education funding in California, never close to the 40% share that Congress envisioned 50 years ago when passing the federal special education mandate, has fallen steadily over the past decade, as has the state’s share of dedicated funding. 

Districts will continue to be responsible for the shortfall. Districts’ share of special education costs has risen from 51% in 2014 to 63% last year, according to School Services of California, a statewide consulting company, and higher in some small districts.

Placer County Office of Education Superintendent Gayle Garbolino-Mojica said that unexpected special education costs have forced three of her districts onto the state’s financial watch list. Preschoolers are coming to school with serious special needs — autism, multiple disabilities, behavioral problems — “in numbers not seen before,” she said.

Inadequate cost-of-living adjustments: A 3% decline in a district’s attendance might not appear dramatic, but losing 3% of funding will be larger than the 2.41% cost-of-living adjustment that districts are projected to receive in 2026-27. And it’s larger than the 2.30% COLA they got this year and the 1.07% COLA in 2024-25. The state’s COLA is tied to a national formula of a basket of goods that doesn’t reflect the sharp rise in health insurance and the need to raise staff pay to retain teachers.

The state cushions the impact of a steadily declining enrollment by allowing districts to claim attendance over a three-year period. Without it, “we would be toast,” said Roth. But that’s not a long-term answer, he said. “We cannot adjust costs as quickly as we will lose revenue.” 

‘Declining enrollment dividend’

Because of Proposition 98’s funding guarantee, TK-12 and community colleges will continue to receive 40% of the state’s general revenue, yet districts collectively will receive fewer dollars as their enrollments drop. The unallotted difference, euphemistically called a “declining enrollment dividend,” could grow to $7.5 billion annually, providing a pot of discretionary funding for the Legislature and governor. How to spend it could prove one of the more contentious decisions in the coming years. Among the options:

• Switching from funding by attendance to funding by annual enrollment, a method favored especially by districts hardest hit by chronic absences.
• Adding a regional cost factor to the Local Control Funding Formula — a much-discussed idea over the years, but never adopted;
• Increasing the state’s share of special education expenses, benefiting all districts;
• Building in a permanent 4% annual COLA;
• Making permanent what has been sporadic among districts: funding professional development, starting with evidence-based instruction in early literacy and the new math framework.

Other issues

Plenty of important decisions won’t require more money. While it’s a fool’s errand to predict what future events will determine, what could crowd its way to the top of the list includes:

Restructuring the California Department of Education. If the Legislature approves Newsom’s plan as part of the next state budget, the department will fall under the authority of Newsom’s successor. That will be only the first step to untangling the current fractured system of school improvement and accountability. Like it or not, the next governor will take credit or blame for implementing programs the state superintendent of instruction had managed.

Resolving Miliani Rodriguez v. State of California. That’s the lawsuit the public interest law firm Public Advocates filed on behalf of 14 students, parents, and teachers in six school districts, challenging the first-come, first-served state formula for distributing billions of dollars to repair school facilities. If Newsom doesn’t settle what he has acknowledged favors wealthy districts, then the decision to defend or negotiate an end to an inequitable system falls to his successor.

Taking the lead on artificial intelligence. AI is a big, amorphous subject, enticing and forbidding, that has been left to districts to decipher and deal with vendors. The next California governor can call for all students to be AI-literate, said Chris Agnew, director of Generative AI for Education Hub at Stanford University, and ask fundamental questions like, “What are the core capacities we want to build in California students, and what are the research-backed learning experiences that build these capacities?”

Redesigning high schools. High schools face a challenge. Only 55% of California students report feeling connected to high school. In 2025, the Legislature budgeted $10 million for a Secondary School Redesign Pilot Program to establish 14 networks for high schools and middle schools in 57 districts. Some have been experimenting for years, while others are launching different models with team teaching, small-group learning to strengthen student relationships, and nontraditional scheduling to accommodate apprenticeships.

A seven-period day, driven by college course requirements and seat time regulations, is hard to change. But if, as State Board President Linda Darling-Hammond hopes, the results show “what it takes for students to be engaged and purposeful in a rapidly changing world,” the next governor should scale up the project, she said.

Getting serious about the achievement gap. Newsom’s big bets on improving students’ well-being and academic progress could bear fruit long term. But the California School Boards Association is demanding full attention now to narrowing persistent disparities in achievement between low-income and well-off students, and among racial and ethnic groups.

CSBA is pushing bills that would hold state agencies accountable for providing the annual metrics that they use to track how they are closing the achievement gap. A separate commission would weed out regulations and duplicate programs, and give a thumbs-down on new programs that would divert resources and energy from addressing the achievement gap.

The bills might not pass, at least as written, but the message is clear: A governor with a different agenda might be out of sync with the times. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.

The post California’s next governor to face tough choices for education as state budget tightens appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Justin Moore, the second victim in the stabbing that occurred at the clocktower plaza in downtown Santa Cruz on March 21, died over the weekend, according to his mother, Terri Jekot. Moore, 42, had been on life support at Stanford University Medical Center for about two weeks until he was taken off this past weekend.

Justin Moore, 42, in the late 2000s after moving to California. Credit: Via Terri Jekot

“He was a very generous, caring, loving, giving person,” said Jekot, who recently returned to her Florida home. She said Moore left his home in Okeechobee for California around 2006, and had a goal to help the unhoused community.

“I got a couple of messages from a couple of young ladies that are homeless,” she said, “and they told me that when they became homeless as teenagers, he kept them safe.”

Moore was one of two victims stabbed near the clocktower plaza during the weekly meal distribution by nonprofit Food Not Bombs. Jekot said she has since stayed in touch with Santa Cruz police and a victim advocate.

Eyewitnesses told Lookout that they saw the two people stabbed by a man, who allegedly started the altercation. A Food Not Bombs volunteer said the confrontation began when the stabbing suspect, who was arrested and identified as 32-year-old Robert David Worel, cut the food line, angering the person behind him. A fistfight allegedly broke out shortly after, leading to Worel pulling a knife. 

It is unclear if Moore was the person behind Worel. The other victim, another man in his 40s, was released from the hospital several days after the incident.

Lookout has asked the Santa Cruz Police Department about how Worel’s case might change given Moore’s death, such as additional charges being filed. Department spokesperson Katie Lee said that no new information was immediately available, but that she would provide an update this week.

Jekot said her son suffered several serious health crises while on life support, including heart attacks and a seizure.

She said that she and Moore had grown apart after he left Florida. She said that Moore had run into some legal troubles over the years, mostly related to drugs and alcohol. Over time, she grew frustrated that Moore appeared to fall in with the wrong crowd.

“I’ll support you any way I can,” she said, “but once you go into jail, I’m sorry, that’s on you.” She added, however, that Moore did not have drugs or alcohol in his system at the hospital.

Despite his troubles, Jekot said her son was a good person. 

“His goal was to keep young people safe from the harm of living on the street,” she said. “He was a good guy … into martial arts, surfing, skateboarding, and he just loved life.”

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Esta traducción fue generada utilizando inteligencia artificial y ha sido revisada por un hablante nativo de español; si bien nos esforzamos por lograr precisión, pueden ocurrir algunos errores de traducción. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.

El Club de Mujeres Demócratas del Condado de Santa Cruz (DWC) respaldó a Ryan Coonerty para alcalde de Santa Cruz y a Scott Newsome y Renee Golder para el concejo municipal de los Distritos 4 y 6, respectivamente, durante el fin de semana tras un foro de candidatos en Capitola.

El foro abarcó todas las contiendas disputadas en el condado: alcalde de Santa Cruz, concejo municipal de los Distritos 4 y 6, y supervisor del condado del Distrito 4.

Sin embargo, el grupo no respaldó a un candidato para la contienda de supervisor del condado del Distrito 4, ya que el titular Felipe Hernandez y uno de sus contrincantes, Elias Gonzales, no estuvieron presentes en el foro del sábado por la mañana. Tony Nuñez, el tercer candidato para esta contienda, no fue considerado ya que no declaró una preferencia partidaria.

Parte de la razón por la que no se emitió un respaldo para la contienda de supervisor, según la presidenta del DWC Peggy Flynn, fue que los candidatos no asistieron, por lo que los miembros con derecho a voto no pudieron escuchar sus plataformas. Añadió que el foro de candidatos del sábado fue la única oportunidad para que Hernandez y Gonzales buscaran un respaldo del grupo.

Un candidato debe recibir el 50% más uno — una mayoría simple — de los miembros con derecho a voto presentes en el foro y de aquellos que se conectaron a través de Zoom. Parecía haber alrededor de 30 asistentes en persona y casi 30 asistentes en línea.

En la concurrida contienda por la alcaldía de Santa Cruz, quienes buscan reemplazar a Fred Keeley, quien no busca la reelección, son: la ex candidata a supervisora y cofundadora de Get The Flock Out Ami Chen Mills; la activista y ex candidata a la alcaldía y al concejo municipal Joy Schendledecker; el ex concejal y alcalde Chris Krohn; la defensora ambiental Gillian Greensite; y el ex alcalde, concejal y supervisor del condado Ryan Coonerty.

El concejo municipal de Santa Cruz del Distrito 4 ve al titular Scott Newsome defendiendo su escaño contra el activista comunitario Hector Marin, quien también se postuló contra Newsome en 2022. El Distrito 6 tiene a la titular Renee Golder enfrentándose a la estudiante de último año de UC Santa Cruz Gabriella Noack.

Contienda por la alcaldía de Santa Cruz

Los candidatos de las tres contiendas recibieron dos minutos para presentaciones y para discutir algunas de sus prioridades si son elegidos, seguidos de preguntas de Flynn y del público.

Coonerty fue el único candidato a la alcaldía que no estuvo presente el sábado por la mañana. Los miembros del público se centraron principalmente en la vivienda y el desarrollo — principalmente en el área del centro de Santa Cruz.

Schendledecker dijo que cree que hay una escasez de vivienda y que Santa Cruz ha estado “subconstruida durante tanto tiempo”. Dijo que la ciudad está atrapada entre la preferencia de la comunidad por menos construcción y las leyes estatales de vivienda, que exigen que se construya más vivienda. Schendledecker dijo que le preocupan los espacios comerciales vacíos en muchos de los desarrollos de vivienda más nuevos.

Chen Mills coincidió con el comentario de su oponente sobre una escasez continua de vivienda. Dijo que los funcionarios locales deben educar al público sobre los esfuerzos para cumplir con las cifras estatales de vivienda. Añadió que la ciudad necesita tener estándares objetivos cuando se trata de vivienda y definir qué tipos de edificios le gustaría ver.

Krohn dijo que, más que una crisis de vivienda, hay una crisis de asequibilidad en Santa Cruz. Criticó la falta de unidades asequibles en algunos de los nuevos apartamentos que se construyen en el centro.

Greensite dijo que al aprobar tantos proyectos, la ciudad está causando un desarrollo excesivo. Dijo que los ingresos medios deben aumentar porque las personas con mayores recursos están adquiriendo estas unidades. Añadió que podría ser el momento de que la ciudad “haga una pausa” en la aprobación de desarrollos de vivienda.

Concejo Municipal de Santa Cruz

Los candidatos de ambas contiendas participaron en el segundo foro. El candidato del Distrito 4, Marin, fue el único ausente. Miembros del público y Flynn preguntaron a los candidatos qué proyectos o temas les gustaría abordar y cómo planean oponerse al gobierno federal en temas como la inmigración y la perforación petrolera en alta mar.

Los tres candidatos dijeron que apoyan políticas que prohíben a los funcionarios federales de inmigración utilizar propiedades de la ciudad para fines de aplicación de la ley, como las aprobadas recientemente a nivel del condado y en Watsonville. Golder mencionó que algunos de sus colegas en el concejo municipal están comenzando a trabajar en legislación relacionada con la inmigración.

From left to right: Santa Cruz City Council District 6 incumbent Renee Golder, District 4 incumbent Scott Newsome and District 6 challenger Gabriella Noack. Credit: Tania Ortiz / Lookout Santa Cruz

Noack dijo que quiere priorizar la creación de una economía local sostenible a largo plazo, además de ayudar a agilizar el proceso de permisos para propietarios de negocios locales que buscan abrir tiendas físicas. Dijo que una de las razones por las que podría haber espacios vacíos en los nuevos desarrollos es que el proceso de permisos es demasiado largo y complicado.

Golder dijo que continuará enfocándose en la vivienda para la fuerza laboral y le gustaría ver más proyectos de este tipo en la comunidad. Dijo que también le gustaría explorar la conversión de edificios más antiguos en condominios para crear oportunidades de propiedad de vivienda para los residentes.

Newsome también dijo que le gustaría continuar impulsando más vivienda asequible y prestar más atención a la infraestructura local para hacer que las carreteras sean más seguras para peatones y ciclistas.

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The post El Club de Mujeres Demócratas respalda a Coonerty, Golder y Newsome para las contiendas municipales de SC; sin respaldo para la contienda de supervisor del condado del Distrito 4 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican Steve Hilton for California governor, reordering a crowded, wide-open race to lead the nation’s most populous state.

Trump posted late Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social that he has known Hilton for years and called the conservative commentator “a truly fine man” who could turn around a state beset with notoriously high taxes. California, Trump wrote, “has gone to hell.”

“With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!” Trump added.

The endorsement — coming about a month before mail ballots go to voters in advance of the June 2 primary — will help Hilton coalesce conservative support in a race with no clear leader. However, Trump is widely unpopular in heavily Democratic California outside his conservative base and Trump’s backing would become a liability if Hilton faces a Democrat in the November election.

With a large field, Democrats have been fearful that a quirk in the state’s unusual “top two” primary system could allow only two Republicans to reach the November general election ballot — Hilton and GOP rival Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff. Trump’s decision — a strong signal to undecided conservative voters — will make that outcome less likely by helping Hilton lure additional support.

Democratic consultant Paul Mitchell called Trump’s decision “the safe bet” for Republicans. Rather than cling to a long shot hope that both Republicans reach the November ballot — or risk that both Hilton and Bianco fall short — Trump’s blessing should consolidate support behind Hilton and allow him to emerge from a large primary field and reach November.

“Having a Republican on the top of the ticket is essential” to drive turnout in critical down-ballot races, with control of the U.S. House in play,” Mitchell added. In an unpredictable, wide-open race, the smart play for the GOP is to “get one Republican on the ballot.”

There are more than 50 candidates on the ballot — including eight established Democrats and along with Hilton and Bianco, the two leading Republicans. An all-GOP general election is possible in California, which puts all candidates on one primary ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party.

Polling in early February by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found the field had broken into two distinct groups, with Bianco, Hilton and three Democrats — U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, former Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer — in close competition, with other candidates trailing.

In a statement, Hilton thanked Trump for his support and promised to grow jobs and bring down the state’s punishing cost of living. “Together we can turn things around,” Hilton said.

Republicans have not won a statewide election in California in two decades. Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the state by nearly 2-to-1.

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The post Trump endorses Republican Steven Hilton for California governor, reordering wide-open race appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 7:30 a.m..

Here’s what’s happening on the roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents

Road incidents as of 7:30 a.m. on April 6

• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville and Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure is expected to last until July 3.
   
• A vehicle was partially blocking the road at Brommer St. and 7th Ave. in Eastside / Live Oak, causing a traffic hazard. CHP helped move the vehicle, but it was still partly in the way. A tow truck was requested and is expected to arrive in about 90 minutes. The incident was reported today.
   
• A red Toyota sedan and a white Mercedes SUV were involved in a collision at Corralitos Rd and Varni Rd at 7:10 a.m. today. No injuries were reported.
   

Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

The post Monday morning traffic: Lane closed on WB SR-152; crash at Corralitos & Varni appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

The Watsonville City Council meets in June 2024. (Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo — Santa Cruz Local file)

Editor’s note: This story first appeared as an episode of Noticias Watsonville. Listen to the Spanish podcast here. 

WATSONVILLE >> The Watsonville City Council proposed rate increases for water, trash and sewer services at its March 24 meeting. The average household in Watsonville would see their bill go up about $14 starting July 1. The rates would increase each year through 2031. 

The proposed rate hikes include:

• 5% annually for water.
• 2% annually for trash.
• 16% in 2027, 12% in 2028 and 6% each year from 2029 to 2031 for sewer.

The proposed increase to sewer fees are needed to pay for replacements to aging facilities at the wastewater treatment plant, which could cost $57 million. The facility was built in 1961 and the last major upgrade was in 1986, said Danielle Green, assistant director of public works. 

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The equipment that needs to be replaced is “the area where all of the sewage in the city comes to the plant, so it’s a very important component of the plant,” Green said. “The structure’s in really bad shape. We’ve had to close off some areas of it because it’s not safe for our staff to access.”

Increases to water rates are needed in part to pay for water filtration upgrades to remove chromium six from groundwater wells that feed the city’s water supply. The chemical can cause health harms but is not at a dangerous level, Green said. New state regulations require the city to bring chromium six levels lower.

Increases to trash fees are due in part to new state regulations that require biodegradable materials to be separated from trash, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The proposal is set to be considered by the Watsonville City Council on May 26. Ratepayers can submit a protest in writing, stating evidence why the proposal is not in line with Proposition 218. That law, among other requirements, dictates that utilities fees must only cover the costs of delivering services. In other words, the additional revenue from the fee increases can only be used to continue providing utilities services. 

A webinar to answer questions about the proposal is planned for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29.

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The post Watsonville utilities rates could go up July 1 appeared first on Santa Cruz Local.

Amid declining enrollment and shrinking state and federal funding, several Santa Cruz County school districts approved significant layoffs this year to maintain long-term financial stability. Districts including Pajaro Valley Unified, Soquel Union Elementary, Live Oak, Scotts Valley Unified and Santa Cruz City Schools proposed cuts affecting dozens of positions, though officials say some reductions could be avoided through attrition or other savings measures.

The post The Santa Cruz County school districts that approved layoffs this year appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Clay Hausmann, a local comedian, is taking the stage once again to perform his comedy routine, “Empty Nest and All the Rest,” focusing on parents whose kids are growing up and soaring off into adulthood.

The post Feathering the nest: Clay Hausmann returns with his one-man comedy show appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday approved its proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which is similar to the current year’s budget. It also approved agreements in the process of becoming the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line’s operator.

The post Carmageddon: RTC approves ’26-27 budget, next steps in operating rail line appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Candidates for the Santa Cruz mayoral and city council races presented their visions for the city as they seek endorsement from the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County (DWC) during a forum over the weekend in Capitola. 

The forum covered all of the contested races in the county: Santa Cruz mayor, city council Districts 4 and 6, and District 4 county supervisor. 

ELECTION 2026: Read more Lookout news and Community Voices opinion coverage here

However, candidates for the District 4 county supervisor race — incumbent Felipe Hernandez and challenger Elias Gonzales — did not participate. The third candidate for the supervisorial race, Tony Nuñez, was not considered for an endorsement because he did not state a party preference. 

A candidate must receive 50% plus one — a simple majority — from voting members present at the forum and those who tuned in via Zoom. There appeared to be about 30 in-person attendees, but it’s unclear how many attended on Zoom.

Results of the vote have not been shared with the public. 

In the crowded Santa Cruz mayoral race, those hoping to replace Fred Keeley, who is not seeking reelection, are: former supervisorial candidate and Get The Flock Out co-founder Ami Chen Mills; activist and former mayoral and city council candidate Joy Schendledecker; former city councilmember and mayor Chris Krohn; environmental advocate Gillian Greensite; and former mayor, city councilmember and county supervisor Ryan Coonerty. 

Santa Cruz City Council District 4 sees incumbent Scott Newsome defending his seat against community activist Hector Marin, who also ran against Newsome in 2022. District 6 has incumbent Renee Golder facing off with graduating UC Santa Cruz senior Gabriella Noack. 

Santa Cruz mayoral race 

Candidates for all three races were given two minutes for introductions and to discuss some of their priorities if elected, followed by questions from DWC president Peggy Flynn and the audience. 

Coonerty was the only mayoral candidate who was not present Saturday morning. Audience members were mostly concerned about housing and development — primarily in the downtown area of Santa Cruz. 

Schendledecker said she believes there’s a housing shortage and that Santa Cruz has been “underbuilt for so long.” She said the city is stuck between community preference for less building and state housing laws, which call for more housing to be built. Schendledecker said she has concerns about the empty commercial spaces in many of the newer housing developments. 

APRIL 15: Hear from District 4 county supervisor candidates in an election forum moderated by Lookout

Chen Mills echoed her opponent’s comment about an ongoing housing shortage. She said local officials need to educate the public about the efforts to meet state housing numbers. She added that the city needs to have objective standards when it comes to housing and lay out what types of buildings it would like to see. 

Krohn said that rather than a housing crisis, there’s an affordability crisis in Santa Cruz. He criticized the lack of affordable units in some of the new apartments being built downtown. 

Greensite said that by approving so many projects, the city is causing overdevelopment. She said median incomes need to increase because more affluent people are snapping up these units. She added that it might be time for the city “to take a pause” in approving housing developments. 

Santa Cruz City Council

Candidates from both races participated in the second forum. District 4 candidate Marin was the only one absent. Members of the audience and Flynn asked candidates what projects or issues they would like to address and how they’d plan to push back against the federal government on issues such as immigration and offshore oil drilling.

All three candidates said they are supportive of policies prohibiting federal immigration officials from using city properties for enforcement purposes, such as those recently passed at the county level and in Watsonville. Golder mentioned that some of her colleagues on the city council are beginning to work on legislation related to immigration. 

From left to right: Santa Cruz City Council District 6 incumbent Renee Golder, District 4 incumbent Scott Newsome and District 6 challenger Gabriella Noack. Credit: Tania Ortiz / Lookout Santa Cruz

Noack said she wants to prioritize creating a sustainable, long-term local economy, in addition to helping streamline the permitting process for local business owners seeking to open brick-and-mortar stores. She said one of the reasons there might be empty spaces in the new developments is that the permitting process is too lengthy and complicated. 

Golder said she would continue to focus on workforce housing, and would like to see more such projects in the community. She said she’d also like to look into converting older buildings into condos to create opportunities for residents to have homeownership. 

Newsome also said he would like to continue pushing for more affordable housing, and would like to invest more attention on local infrastructure to make roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.

The post Candidates for Santa Cruz mayor, city council races vie for endorsement from Democratic Women’s Club in weekend forum appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for its newsletters.

Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a strategy to save declining salmon — spotlighting a historic partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to reintroduce endangered winter-run Chinook to the vital, cold waters upstream of Lake Shasta in far northern California. 

Now, tribe officials say the state is ending its support, potentially causing salmon restoration efforts on the McCloud River to die mid-stream. The tribe is now grappling with the sudden loss of jobs, along with the dimming of hope that the culturally sacred fish will be restored to their ancestral waters. 

“It makes me feel betrayed. It makes the tribe feel betrayed,” said Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the tribe. “It’s like they just gave up.” 

State officials say the one-time funds were tied to the state’s drought response and have now been used up. 

“The pilot was designed to take urgent action during severe drought conditions while testing key tools and approaches needed for potential long-term reintroduction,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Stephen Gonzalez said in an email.

Racing against warm water

Federal scientists call the Sacramento River’s winter-run Chinook salmon “one of the most at-risk endangered species.” 

Cut off from historic higher elevation cold-water spawning grounds by the Shasta and Keswick dams, the fish have been stranded for decades in the Sacramento River — where warm water routinely cooks their eggs. Keeping that water cold enough for salmon puts limits on how much water federal managers can deliver from Lake Shasta — a vital irrigation supply for Central Valley farmers.

“We are forcing the fish to be in places where they never were historically,” said Carson Jeffres, a senior researcher at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “When we have all those eggs in one basket, you are one really warm event from losing that cohort of fish.” 

Cassandra Curl (right), with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Justin Call, environmental scientist, work on the California Department of Water Resources’ Juvenile Salmonid Collection System Pilot Project in the upper McCloud Arm of Lake Shasta in Shasta County on Nov. 20, 2025.
Credit: Xavier Mascareñas / California Department of Water Resources via CalMatters

The drought years of the early 2020s decimated the eggs, which prompted emergency action even before Newsom announced his salmon plan. “It was our wake-up call,” Jeffres said. 

In 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife joined with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and federal fisheries agencies to relocate endangered salmon eggs from the hatchery below Lake Shasta to the cold, spring-fed McCloud River upstream. 

For the first time in more than 80 years, the fish swam in their ancestral river, where they had once been abundant. 

State and federal agencies finalized the partnership the next year, naming the Winnemem Wintu Tribe as a “co-equal decision-maker” in agreements to work on restoring salmon to the McCloud River. 

“The goal is ecological and cultural restoration, which will one day renew fishing opportunities for the tribe that depended on the once-plentiful salmon for food and much more,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in the media release three years ago. 

Newsom touted the effort in his 2024 salmon strategy, which featured a smiling photograph of Winnemem Wintu Chief and spiritual leader Caleen Sisk next to Chuck Bonham, then-director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. They stood in front of the McCloud River. 

“Partnerships with Tribal Nations,” the strategy said, “can propel our mission forward.”

Funding ends as fish return

The McCloud’s salmon, trucked around Lake Shasta to complete their ocean migration, have started to come back. Last year, a couple of 2-year-old males returned to swim up the Sacramento River. 

The eggs they fertilized hatched in incubation tanks on the banks of the McCloud, according to Rebekah Olstad, project manager for the Winnemem Wintu’s salmon restoration efforts. 

But this year, the state, tribal and federal scientists involved have no plans to transport fertilized eggs above the dams, Olstad said. The tribe expects its state funding will be gone by the end of June, and is already laying off personnel from work tribal leaders hoped would help employ tribal members long term. 

Olstad, who is not a tribal member, is also losing her job. She says that the tribe has received a little over $6 million for the McCloud projects since 2023, with the grant set to end this year. 

“The tribe was aware that the current grant contract would end,” Olstad said. “However, under the co-management framework, the tribe has been expecting that there would be partnership to secure the next round of funding … so that there would be capacity to actually continue the work.”

The grant also supported an ambitious effort to bring the wild descendants of McCloud salmon back to California from New Zealand. Exported more than a century ago, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe hopes these salmon will revive the genetic diversity of the few remaining endangered salmon in the Sacramento River. But this work, too, Sisk said, risks grinding to a halt. 

“We’re down to bare-bones staff,” Sisk said. “It pretty much shuts down all of our efforts.” 

Science — and trust — interrupted

Sisk and Mulcahy said they communicated their concerns to California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot and to Bonham. Both, Sisk said, indicated that they would try to find additional funding.  

Tribal leaders also met with current Fish and Wildlife Director Meghan Hertel, Sisk said.  

“They all say it’s an important program,” Sisk said. “If it’s good, then where’s the funding?”

Gonzalez, the department spokesperson, emphasized that the program was a pilot. “While this initial phase of on-the-ground pilot work is ending, it has successfully established the scientific, operational and partnership foundation needed to inform next steps,” he said. 

Jeffres, the UC Davis scientist, has been studying conditions and monitoring salmon in the McCloud under a separate state grant – one he said has also recently ended. 

Even if the state awards more funding for the tribe’s restoration efforts, he said, interruptions to science damage trust and relationships — creating setbacks and inertia that are difficult to recover from. Jeffres said it’s difficult to see the rug pulled out from under the Winnemem Wintu Tribe once again. 

“I would give up any of our research funding to have the program continue with the tribe,” Jeffres said. “I’m looking under every couch cushion.” 

Mulcahy said seeing the state’s funding end has been especially hard after the Newsom administration’s announcement of $10 million for salmon projects three months ago. 

“We were told [the department] was a co-manager — and then all of a sudden, boom. I mean, there’s nothing there,” Mulcahy said. 

The Governor’s Office and Natural Resources Agency did not immediately respond to CalMatters’ requests for comment.

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The post Endangered salmon returned to California’s far north — then the money dried up appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Arianna, 11, and Alison, 10 months, pose with the Easter Bunny for a photo. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

About a dozen people march March 29 in downtown Santa Cruz to garner awareness and support for homeless people. Put on by Food Not Bombs and the Homeless Union, their message to the people along Pacific Avenue was to stop the sweeps of homeless camps, reopen day services, including showers animal service, for those unhoused and to audit the Santa Cruz County industrial complex. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

Dozens of artworks from all grades within the Pajaro Valley Unified School District are now on display at the Watsonville Civic Plaza Building. 

From portraits to abstracts and still lifes, the 2026 Annual Art Exhibition fans out through both floors of the Watsonville Public Library, the third floor County Courthouse and official offices on the fourth floor. The project is a joint effort between the district’s Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) program, the City of Watsonville and PV Arts.

A student named Presli created this painting (shown in detail) for the exhibit that is showing in the aisles of the mayor’s office. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

“The process is that we reach out to all 25 schools,” said Deepika Srivastava, who serves as Director of  STEAM Curriculum, Instruction & Professional Development. “We started in November and we worked with all the visual arts teachers. Thanks to a crew of volunteers we managed to get the art hung  Monday through Wednesday. It will be available for public viewing through March of next year.”

Srivastava gave credit to the staff at the Civic Plaza, including librarians, courthouse staff and the mayor’s office for helping with the presentation of the show.

These student works by Eliseo (top) and Frank are showing on the top floor of the Civic Plaza building. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

“I believe art is an expression of their ideas and how they look at the world around them,” she said. “I worked in very large school districts in Redlands and Riverside where there were between 28-49,000 students, but I have never seen such a wide variety of exciting work as I have seen in this area.” 

A reception for students, their parents and the public is set for May 13 at the Civic Plaza Building from 3–5:30pm at 275 Main St.

A new downtown Santa Cruz cocktail lounge, Alley Oop, has transformed the former Poet & Patriot pub into a polished, speakeasy-style bar with a focus on vintage drinks and small plates.

The post Alley Oop opens in downtown Santa Cruz with vintage cocktails and speakeasy style appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Housing is taking center stage in Santa Cruz County’s June primaries and November elections, writes housing activist and former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane. He worries that community debates are often clouded by misinformation. Here, he argues that many new downtown Santa Cruz developments are in fact affordable and part of a long-overdue housing push. He points to decades of underbuilding as the root of today’s shortage and rising costs. As voters head to the polls, he urges a fact-based conversation about who gets to live in the community.

The post Getting our housing facts straight before Santa Cruz votes appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.