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During President Donald Trump’s first term in office, which began in 2017, his administration proposed a sweeping plan to open nearly all U.S. coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling, including 47 proposed lease sales.

Those plans were thwarted amid opposition from local, state and federal officials, as well as residents.

But the threats of offshore oil drilling and seabed mining remain and have grown more dire under Trump’s current administration, in what U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta describes as “Trump 2.0.”

During a news conference Monday morning on the back porch of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Panetta said the U.S. Department of the Interior recently released a draft proposal making it clear that “all options are on the table” when it comes to offshore oil drilling and seabed mining.

Panetta joined several local elected officials and nonprofit leaders in vowing to continue opposing those plans.

“That’s why we stand here today, with everybody at the table, with all of our options on the table, to let this administration know that our Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will not be the East Wing of the White House,” Panetta said.

Gesturing to a tide pool behind the aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium CEO Jenny Gray said children later that day might have their first snorkeling experience in the pristine waters.

“And I think that is why we’re here today,” she said. “To spend a moment thinking about what it is like to put your head under the water and to see the incredible creatures that live in our ocean.”

Panetta told the crowd that, with the “chaos and the craziness and the uncertainty and some absurdity coming out of Washington, D.C.,” it can be easy to become disheartened and divided.

But Panetta pointed to Federal Register records showing that more than 300,000 people opposed the previous plans during the public comment period.

“We stand at the ready to do it again when the next comment period occurs, once the administration releases the updated plan,” Panetta said. “And we must continue to engage. We must continue to unite. And, yes, we will continue to fight as we stand up to protect our coastline.”

Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels said an accident during drilling could cause catastrophic damage.

“… we know collectively that one oil spill threatens everything,” she said. “It’s not just the ocean behind me, but it is the economy, it is the food that we eat, and it is the place that so many people have the opportunity to come and visit and experience.”

Ted Balestreri, CEO and chairman of the Cannery Row Co., agreed, saying such a disaster would severely affect Monterey’s tourism industry, which draws 6.3 million people annually.

That includes the hospitality industry, he said.

“I want you to know this is what the industry of America is all about,” he said. “And to impede it, to put oil drilling out here, it’s like destroying the Mona Lisa.”

Save Our Shores Executive Director Katie Thompson said her organization is ready to fight drilling off the coast, as it did four decades ago when it was formed to fight federal offshore drilling proposals.

Thompson said the federal government is proposing new offshore oil and gas development, including six lease sales off California, two of them on the Central Coast.

“… We fought it back then, we won and we’re ready to fight again,” she said. “Californians have made the position clear. We do not want offshore drilling.”

The state is already strengthening its so-called “Blue Wall,” a series of local ordinances along the coast intended to hinder offshore oil drilling.

That includes Assembly Bill 1448, which, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom later this year, would prohibit oil companies from using existing land-based infrastructure to support new offshore oil extraction.

Currently, state law prohibits oil companies from building new infrastructure for that purpose.

Ashley Blacow-Draeger, Oceana’s Pacific policy and communications manager, called the pending legislation “a critical piece of legislation that will help fortify California’s coastline from the escalating risks of expanded offshore oil and gas drilling.”

Janine Chicourrat, managing director of the Portola Hotel & Spa, said she remembers swimming in the ocean as a child in Southern California — where offshore drilling occurs — and having to clean oil from her body that had leaked from offshore oil operations.

Chicourrat called the idea of offshore drilling on the Central Coast an “absolutely ridiculous concept” that would decimate the fishing industry, decrease property values, cause spills and damage the fragile ecosystems at attractions such as Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

“We’re made up of a lot of small businesses, and that would kill us,” she said.

A fast-growing fire near Big Sur had burned 1,300 acres as of Monday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders and warnings in the surrounding areas. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection crews were preparing to assume control of the fire response, although the blaze remains a federal incident.

The Timber fire was first reported on Sunday at 10:44 a.m. As of 2:17 p.m. Monday, it had burned 1,300 acres and was only 5% contained. Three zones were under evacuation orders and four others were under evacuation warnings. It is on federal land in the Los Padres National Forest, and the cause was still under investigation.

A map of the Timber fire and the zones under evacuation orders and warnings as of Monday afternoon. Credit: Cal Fire

Cecile Juliette, the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit spokesperson, was at the scene of the fire on Monday, and told Lookout that a Cal Fire incident management team would assume command of the fire at 6 p.m. despite the fire occurring on federal land. Juliette added that it isn’t common for the state agency to assume this role in a federal fire. 

“California’s wildfires are not as active as in other parts of the west right now, so it gives Cal Fire the ability to support our federal partners,” she said.

According to a Cal Fire post on X, incident management teams are specialized groups of emergency personnel that provide leadership and coordination during complicated incidents. The groups direct and supervise fire suppression efforts, resources, logistics, safety and more.

Click here for Cal Fire’s latest information regarding the fire.

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 Big Sur scorched by fast-growing fire; Cal Fire crews to assist and assume control appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

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

Brain sensors and implants are giving people the ability to control computers, robots and wheelchairs without moving a muscle. Paired with algorithms, the devices can also predict when people are most likely to be productive and when to take a break.

It’s a technology few Californians have used and many likely don’t know exists. But neurotechnology and brain data privacy is increasingly a target for regulation in the California Legislature.

Two years ago, lawmakers extended state digital privacy law protections to brain data. This year, a bill to restrict how employers use the data has cleared the Assembly and made most of its way through the Senate, as has another measure blocking the sale of brain data and other sensitive personal information. In January, new privacy agency rules go into effect that will protect more people from businesses that use artificial intelligence to make significant decisions about their lives including systems that utilize brain data and the kind made to operate in the workplace.

Neurotech systems gather information using computer chips implanted in the brain or sensors packed into devices like earbuds, headbands, wristbands, or via augmented reality headsets. 

Some uses are clearly beneficial: Helping blind people see, people with paralysis speak, and people with neurological disorders work and communicate. 

But policymakers and critics of the technology are concerned about its potential to monitor people and make predictions about them, especially in the workplace. For example, brain data can be analyzed to detect mental health disorders like depression and PTSD, potentially allowing for discriminatory hiring or firing decisions. The technology can also be used to predict words or images that form in a person’s mind, raising the possibility that in the future managers could utilize brain data to get the upper hand in salary negotiations or short-circuit union organizing. Some people concerned about the technology describe themselves as part of a mental privacy movement.

Currently, neurotechnology in the workplace is often used to detect focus or fatigue. Hitachi’s SmartCap brain-monitoring headbands are designed to keep tabs on the alertness of people working in sensitive industries like trucking and mining. Employees at an electric power company in China have reportedly been sent home or removed from critical posts if a warning is issued based on neural sensors in their hat.

Many neurotech companies call California home, including brain-implant makers Neuralink and Science Corporation and augmented reality startup Cognixion. California-based tech giant Meta is exploring ways to integrate brain data into its smart glasses. 

California lawmakers are looking to regulate the nascent sector before societal harms become commonplace as they did with AI and threats to digital privacy. Other states are also regulating neurotech: Colorado, Connecticut, Montana and Vermont already protect brain data to some extent. And this year Alabama, Illinois, New York, Vermont and Virginia are considering bills to regulate, or further regulate, the use of brain data. A United Nations body introduced the first global standards for how to treat neural data last year, and in February, Canada moved to protect the brain data of its citizens.

In California, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat from Inglewood, is pushing Assembly Bill 1883, which seeks to regulate the use of what’s known as bossware in the workplace and prohibits the collection of brain data by employers unless that data is used for safety. Another bill would expand state privacy law to prohibit the sale of sensitive personal information, which includes neural data.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters

Bryan said his bill is about ensuring that surveillance technology does not make the workplace hostile to people who are just trying to make a living.

“Much of what’s in our bill is cutting-edge technology or technologies that are emerging in real time, and we are trying to address easily predictable concerns before they hit the workplace,” he said. “You’d rather not have horror stories.”

Bryan’s bill drew opposition from major employers, including local governments and groups that represent assisted living facilities, grocers, hospitals, and wine growers. Opponents argue the measure is too broad and would prevent them from using tools that ensure safe driving, detect theft and stop inappropriate behavior toward customers.

The regulatory interest comes as Meta’s Neural Band begins to connect with smart glasses and neurotech startups seek to integrate their tech with Apple’s Vision Pro augmented reality headset. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended breakthrough device designation to many neurotech companies, which allows businesses to market hardware that’s in clinical trials and gives them an expedited path to commercial availability.

Nita Farahany is a Duke University professor who advises lawmakers on mental privacy protections. She fears that without adequate protections, workers may self-censor by avoiding thinking about things that could upset their employers like organizing a union. She said workers at neurotech companies have told her their employers are deciding their business model now, in particular whether to sell subscriptions, sell expensive devices or sell cheap devices and monetize the brain data of their customers.

“We’re at a critical decision point for most of the neurotech companies,” she said. “Privately all of them are grappling with this right now.”

Legislation like the bill that would prohibit the sale of neural data and other sensitive information could make that decision for small companies, Farahany said, but that won’t make a difference for tech giants like Meta if they choose to keep brain data for their own purposes such as personalized advertising.

Virtually all companies developing non-invasive forms of brain-computer interface technology have poor privacy practices written into their terms of service, according to a study by Stephen Damianos of the Neurorights Foundation, which supports more regulation of neural data. The 2024 study found that two-thirds of companies surveyed allowed data sharing with third parties.

Damianos said data collection is poised to ramp up as devices and the algorithms they use to interpret brain data improve. Without regulation, “enormous new risks emerge that can lead to people getting excluded from jobs or penalized by insurance companies or monitored at work,” he added. “So there’s an urgent need to act now before it becomes the norm that brain data is accessed without consent or used to influence decisions.”

California startups building brain tech

California-based makers of neurotechnology emphasized the benefits of their products and said they are involved with international efforts to adopt standards for the use of brain data in an ethical way.

Cognixion, which is based in Santa Barbara, makes headsets that can overlay useful information on top of a view of a user’s surroundings, technology known as augmented reality. Cognixion’s headset is also packed with brain data sensors, allowing people with neurological disorders like ALS to use their head movement, mind and eyes to interact with apps like Slack to communicate with coworkers or Outlook to send emails. Founder and CEO Andreas Forsland told CalMatters that neurotechnology developed for people with ALS could make life better for everyone, in much the same way that providing automatic doors and curb cut outs for people in wheelchairs aids everyone’s mobility. 

He believes it’s inevitable that brain data will be broadly used “either for understanding and optimizing human performance or providing an alternative to hands-on control.”

The Cognixion ONE Axon-R headset. Credit: Via Cognixion

Emotiv, based in San Francisco, makes earbuds with sensors that measure electrical activity in the brain. The company then uses algorithms to predict what these signals mean. Emotiv designs its earbuds to give people insights into how to go about their entire day. It wants to help users find and choose appropriate interventions for when they are stressed or tired, said Emotiv Chief Commercial Officer Kim Old.

The company also is working to make its products useful in workplaces and to the corporations that run them. The company says SAP used Emotiv tech to personalize employee training based on brain activity, Dell used brain data to personalize employee break schedules, and real estate company JLL used brain data to explore whether office layouts influence employee performance. Each of those projects were experiments, Old said, and Emotiv maintains that brain data deserves sensitive treatment, should be collected with consent, and people deserve control over how their brain data is used or shared.

“We do not believe neural data should be used for covert or coercive workplace surveillance,” Old told CalMatters in an email in June.

Alexander Kies is a postdoctoral researcher at RWTH Aachen University in Germany who studies how consumers react when interacting with employees that use neurotech to do their jobs. He thinks neurotech that doesn’t require surgery will spread first in the workplace and that employers will start with monitoring brain data to help prevent worker fatigue then move on to using brain data to inform management decisionmaking. Once that happens it will become increasingly difficult to tell whether managers collect data to protect your well-being or control every part of your life.

“My take on this is these management tasks would creep in,” he said. “We’re taking away agency from employees.”

Guarding brain data in California

Though California lawmakers have been pioneers in regulating the use of neural data, last year there was a retreat. A bill regulating the use of automated decision systems in the workplace was amended to remove references to neural data in order to garner enough votes to pass. The watered-down measure was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said it would have placed overly broad restrictions on businesses.

The challenge that lawmakers and regulators face, said the bill’s coauthor, Stockton Democratic Sen. Jerry McNerney, is how to put guardrails in place that protect workers from harm but still allow employers to explore potential opportunities of the technology they can take advantage of.  The measure Newsom vetoed, Senate Bill 7, included brain data, he said, because “that’s the most personal thing you have, your brain.”

Credit: Illustration by Adriana Heldiz / CalMatters

“We want to make sure that neural data isn’t used to predict behavior that would cause you to punish an employee so no predictive algorithms are allowed,” he said during a panel conversation hosted by CalMatters at James Irvine Foundation offices in San Francisco last year. 

Sara Flocks of the California Labor Federation, which supports bills to regulate the use of worker brain data, said brain data has the potential to be used to repeat mistakes made during the Industrial Revolution, when initiatives to squeeze performance efficiency out of employees led to poor working conditions.

That mistake can be repeated in the future with brain data and today with AI, she said, pointing to a recent survey that found that one in five managers use automation for hiring, firing, or promotion decisions, and a 2023 survey found that three out of four employers use some form of employee surveillance or bossware.

Farahany said neural data isn’t today revealing as much about workers as other information, such as their keystrokes, social media activity or heart rate. But that may change as improvements are made to the hardware that taps into brain data and the AI that translates that data.

Any gains from neurotechnology could be undermined by a loss of trust and autonomy among employees if they feel their privacy and mental self-determination are negatively impacted, Farahany argued in her book, “The Battle for Your Brain.”

What’s at stake, she said, is not just the invasion of your privacy or the possibility that AI deployed by your employer could predict how often you have negative thoughts about your boss. Without privacy protections, this technology can undermine cognitive freedom and your ability to function as an autonomous, independent person. 

“There’s an urgent need to protect mental privacy and self determination,” she told CalMatters. “It’s part of a bigger picture that needs to be addressed.”

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The post Would you trust your boss with data about your brain? California moves to regulate neurotech appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 6:31 a.m..

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

▼︎ new incidents   ▼︎ long-term incidents

Road incidents as of 6:30 a.m. on August 10

• A man was seen standing between lanes on Freedom Blvd. near Shadowmere Way in Aptos, swinging his backpack at cars. No weapons were seen and no vehicles were involved. The incident was reported as a traffic hazard today.
   
• A traffic hazard was reported at Salinas Rd and Hilltop Rd in Watsonville / Pajaro at 4:47 a.m. today. A vehicle hit a long piece of metal or possibly a 2×4 in the road near a park/ride and bus stop. The fire department checked the vehicle before it was towed.
   
• There is one-way traffic on Highway 9 at Cascade Avenue in San Lorenzo Valley because of ongoing work. This closure will last until August 31 at 7:01 a.m.
   
• Alternating lanes are closed on Highway 9 at Riverdale Park in San Lorenzo Valley because of bridge work. The closure is expected to last until 6:59 a.m. on April 30, 2027.
   

Long-term projects

These have been going on for a while, but are still worth keeping in mind.

• Elsie Mae Drive at 940 Elsie Mae Dr in San Lorenzo Valley will be closed today from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and again from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. while crews replace a utility pole and transformer and trim trees nearby.
   

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: Backpack-swinging man on Freedom Blvd.; Hwy 9 lane closures appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Local grassroots group Get the Flock Out was chosen to kick off the National Week of Action Against Automated License Plate Readers in the Bay Area with a rally this Sunday. It’s meant to celebrate the City of Santa Cruz canceling its Flock Safety camera contract earlier this year, and to call attention to the nearly 50 cameras still active in Capitola and Watsonville, the group said.

It’s the last month for Go Santa Cruz County’s Go Bike! incentive program, which offers potential big discounts on a variety of bicycles and programs. Later this month, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will hold a public workshop on the San Vicente-Waddell Coastal Resilience Project.

The new documentary film “My Name is Gitta” follows Santa Cruz Holocaust survivor Gitta Ryle as she returns to Europe in search of answers, discovering that forgiveness is not a destination, but a lifelong journey.

Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history, including two stints with the Golden State Warriors, and who won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died Sunday. He was 86.

Andrew Kim Kawaoka, 70, prunes a tree during a River Stewards Program event on Wednesday at the San Lorenzo River. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> With gloves and buckets, river ecologist Patrick Lopez and eight residents of a homeless shelter gathered along the San Lorenzo River on an overcast Wednesday morning. One participant shifted from foot to foot, eager to get started. Lopez began by describing which native and non-native plants they would be working with for the two-hour restoration event. 

It was part of the relaunch of the River Stewards program, where people living at the Armory/Overlook Emergency Shelter receive hands-on training in river restoration techniques, and receive a $20 gift card for their participation.

“It’s a really fun thing to do because you get to be outside, and you get to learn new things,” said Serena Thompson, who added that she couldn’t be happier about its relaunch and said she missed the program when it ended.

Before People First and the Coastal Watershed Council relaunched this program on June 24, it was led in partnership with the Downtown Streets Team. The original version of the program hosted more than 50 unhoused volunteers from 2022 to 2025. 

Amid the loss of several grants, including one from the County of Santa Cruz, the Downtown Streets Team shut down its operations in October 2025. A survey conducted during the final year of the program found that 48% of River Stewards volunteers eventually went on to gain employment and 37% gained housing after participating, according to a recent press release. 

The new iteration of River Stewards is funded by the California Coastal Commission, the Ocean Protection Council, and money from the county’s Measure Q, a voter-approved parcel tax.

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Serena Thompson poses for a portrait while working at a weekly River Stewards volunteer day on the San Lorenzo River. Thompson, 55, participated in the program when the Downtown Streets Team was running it and missed attending after it was shut down in October 2025. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

Up to eight shelter residents are shuttled to the river each Wednesday and work 9 a.m. to noon.

“Throughout the whole time that they’re working, I’m bouncing around to each of them, making sure that they are feeling supported and listened to. I really value cultivating those connections with them and listening to what’s going on in their lives,” said Lopez, who began working with the Coastal Watershed Council last month. “Some of them are actively looking for housing, and some of them are applying for jobs. Some of them are just happy to be out there, and it’s something that I really take a lot of pride in.”

Lopez guides volunteers through native seed collection, watering, mulching, trash cleanup and invasive species removal. He said so far, the group has removed 2,240 square feet of non-native plants, including Himalayan blackberry and Italian thistle, making room for native seeds that will be planted in the fall and winter.

Evan Morrison, Executive Director of People First, said the only requirements for participation is people must be in the Armory shelter and willing to work in a community environment. 

“Coastal Watershed Council provides a great deal of ecological education to the program participants,” Morrison said. “Engaging in this process helps them to build knowledge and work experience.”

From left, Serena Thompson, Patrick Lopez and Dustin Jones get ready to work during a River Stewards program event on the San Lorenzo River south of Soquel Avenue Bridge. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

Lopez said he has heard positive feedback from the volunteers about how proud they are of the work they’re accomplishing.

“Some of the participants are learning identification tools that are helping them nourish themselves. Himalayan blackberry is a big non-native invasive plant that is delicious to eat, and the more seeds that we eat, the better it can be for the whole community and plant society,” Lopez said. “A lot of them wish that we could have the program for multiple days throughout the week, and I wish we can accommodate that. Maybe someday we’ll be able to.” 

Many of this year’s participants have volunteered with the previous iteration of the program. Another veteran participant, Andrew Kim Kawaoka, 70, has been living at the Armory for four years. When People First asked for volunteers, Kawaoka was eager to help tend the river. He has a background in landscaping and enjoys nature.

“The levee probably missed us. I think they’re happy we’re thinning out the plants and not letting one plant take over,” Kawaoka said. “They did an amazing job, because I don’t recognize the levee when I worked on it four years ago. None of this was here and now it’s getting the attention it needs.”

Miguel Ramirez volunteers with the River Stewards Program at the San Lorenzo River on Wednesday. During the event, participants were instructed on how to identify native and non-native plants before collecting all the non-native plants into a pile to throw away. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

Herbert Carter tosses a non-native mustard plant into the disposal pile. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

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The post Return of the River Stewards: shelter residents tend to San Lorenzo riverbank ecosystem appeared first on Santa Cruz Local.

Earlier this year, Mexican-born, Texas-raised visual artist Victor Quiñonez had his new exhibition, which speaks to being an immigrant in America and to the harm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has caused, pulled from two different galleries in Texas. It is now set to come in September to UC Santa Cruz, where Quiñonez hopes his art can continue to make an impact in a state and gallery that is more understanding of its impactful message.

For more than 25 years, parents, physicians, researchers and farmworker advocates have warned about pesticide exposure in the Pajaro Valley. So why haven’t Santa Cruz County’s healthcare institutions taken a stand? Local activist Kevin Norton asks why major hospitals and healthcare organizations have remained largely silent on an issue affecting many of their patients — and argues that preventing disease should begin long before someone enters an exam room.