Lookout Santa Cruz

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 8:01 a.m.

Here’s what’s happening on Santa Cruz County roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents   ▼︎ long-term incidents

Road incidents as of 8 a.m. on June 16

• A hit-and-run happened at 1015 Fern Ave. in Felton on Monday at 5:26 p.m. A vehicle hit power lines, causing a power outage in the area. The driver left the scene in a silver Honda. No injuries were reported.
   
• North Highway 17 at Pasatiempo Drive north of Santa Cruz is facing closures for asphalt paving. The closure is expected to end at 6:01 a.m. on June 22.
   
• Highway 9 at Cascade Avenue in Brookdale has one-way traffic due to ongoing work. This closure is expected to last until Aug. 31.
   
• There will be alternating lane closures on Highway 9 at Pool Drive in Boulder Creek because of bridge work. This is scheduled to continue until April 30, 2027.
   
• There is one-way traffic on Highway 236 at Heartwood Hill in Boulder Creek because of drainage cleaning. This is expected to end at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
   
• The California Highway Patrol helped with construction at the intersection of Highway 9 and Bear Creek Road in Boulder Creek today.
   
• CHP helped with construction at the intersection of Highway 1 south and Buena Vista Drive in Watsonville today.
   

Long-term projects

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

• A single lane will be closed on Mount Hermon Road between Lockhart Gulch Road and Covenant Lane in Scotts Valley today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while county crews trim trees and remove hazardous trees leaning over the road.
   
• On Wednesday, county crews will close one lane on East Zayante Road between Woodwardia Avenue and West Zayante Road in Felton from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for tree trimming and removal of hazardous trees over the road.
   
• Branciforte Drive between DeLaveaga Park and Glen Canyon Road will have lane closures while county crews remove trees.
   

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 Tuesday morning traffic: Highway 17, 9 and 1 lane closures; hit-and-run in Felton appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz-based journalist Mat Weir, who has known Oliver Tree for 13 years, shares his thoughts on his tragic death and the legacy he leaves behind in his home city.

Freedom Elementary School fourth grader Isai Guerrero and 10 classmates will escort players onto the field before Tuesday night’s World Cup match between Austria and Jordan at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

Pajaro Middle School survived catastrophic flooding in 2023, but now faces a different challenge: a breakdown in trust between teachers, administrators and the district, writes Brandon Diniz, president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers Local 1936. Teachers cite safety concerns, poor communication and inadequate responses to serious incidents, he writes. In May, 88% of teachers said they had no confidence in principal Nicole Killian’s leadership. District leaders, Diniz says, can no longer dismiss the concerns as a labor dispute and must address the serious issues the school faces.

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

A year ago, California officials had to report under a new state law how they used automated systems to make important decisions about people’s lives. 

They said they never did — a startling answer for a number of reasons, sources told CalMatters at the time, including that there were several prominent examples to the contrary.

Now, the state has issued a more expansive answer: It is currently using six automated systems to make consequential decisions about the lives of Californians.

The systems are used to do things like:

• Predict whether incarcerated people will reoffend.
• Evaluate whether unemployment claims are fraudulent.
• Remotely administer exams for California State University students. 
• Detect when college students use generative artificial intelligence to write assignments.

That’s according to a report released Friday by the state’s technology department. The report is required under a 2023 law mandating that that state agencies annually disclose their use of “high-risk automated decision systems,” which the law defines as systems “used to assist or replace human discretionary decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect, including decisions that materially impact access to, or approval for, housing or accommodations, education, employment, credit, health care, and criminal justice.”

The law was pushed by civil rights, privacy and civil liberties groups concerned about harms from AI-like systems. Numerous such systems have been shown to produce results biased against marginalized groups, including those used for high-stakes testing, predicting recidivism and detecting AI-generated texts.

CalMatters flagged last year’s report as surprising, noting that the state corrections department had reported using software to predict post-release behavior and that the employment department used a fraud detection system that paused benefits for 600,000 Californians between Christmas and New Year’s in 2020, according to a Legislative Analyst’s Office report.

Though the report names six high-risk systems in use today, state agencies have used some for several years now. Those include COMPAS, which has been used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to assign recidivism scores to inmates for at least a decade.

The technology department said in the report that it found more systems for its report this year because it evaluated responses from state agencies more thoroughly, including by meeting with agencies and questioning them about their systems.

In addition to the six high-risk systems, the department’s report disclosed an additional six systems initially flagged as high risk but later determined not to be. One was AI used for legislative bill analysis by the California Department of Finance. 

The report also notes two high-risk systems that are not currently in use: the Department of Cannabis Control is developing artificial intelligence to analyze whether marijuana packaging violates a law against appealing to children, and California State University discontinued use of a language model for reviewing job applications.

Results of the second annual survey come after cities like San Jose and San Francisco released their first AI inventories in recent months. They also come at a time when

Major, California-based AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are going public and seeking government contracts. Most Americans are split on whether they trust AI, and surveys last year by TechEquity and Carnegie California found that the majority of Californians want safety over innovation. A Gallup poll to evaluate the opinions of Americans found similar results.

Senate Bill 1248, a bill that would have prohibited state employees from using automated decision systems as the sole basis for decisionmaking, was killed last month in the state’s rapid-fire appropriations process.

What’s missing

While the newly released report shares more information than last year’s, several questions remain about the state’s use of artificial intelligence and other automated systems.

The report does not include generative AI pilot projects underway with support from the governor’s office to do things like help businesses file taxes, support state employees who work on homelessness, and an AI assistant named Poppy that uses language models like Anthropic’s Claude to do things like draft documents, research policy, or build custom AI tools, according to a state website. The website says that 67 state departments provided input during the pilot phase, and statewide rollout of Poppy begins next month.

A California State University contract with OpenAI to provide a version of ChatGPT is also not mentioned, though surveys of AI use in educational settings have found that the technology can do more harm than good.

The 2023 law mandating the annual high-risk systems report excludes reporting by a number of state agencies, including the judicial branch and the University of California college system. Reporting by CalMatters last month found that a majority of the roughly 60 courts that operate statewide have adopted generative AI use policies. Courts in Los Angeles and Riverside counties have begun testing an AI tool to act as a clerk, drafting orders and producing research memos.

CalMatters is compiling an inventory of automated decisionmaking systems in use by state and local agencies throughout California in order to provide transparency into how governments are using decisionmaking systems and AI. Know about an AI system in use by a state or local agency? Email khari@calmatters.org.

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

The post California admits using high-risk AI — including systems it failed to report last year appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monterey Bay sent a letter to its mentors on Monday announcing that it would halt its mentoring services after more than four decades after its board of directors moved to cease operations and disaffiliate from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

A 19-year-old Capitola man and a 17-year-old girl were killed Sunday night in a two-car crash near Watsonville, and a man has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide.

At 8:47 p.m., California Highway Patrol officers responded to a crash involving an Infiniti and Toyota at the intersection of State Route 152 and Casserly Road, according to a press release. CHP Officer Troy Vincent said Monday that the cause of the crash is still under investigation, but that the driver of the Infiniti has been arrested. 

There were two cars and four people involved in the crash, according to the CHP press release. The first car, a 2011 Infiniti G37 driven by a 19-year-old man from Watsonville, was heading westbound on 152 east of Casserly Road at an undetermined speed with a man in his early twenties in the passenger seat.

According to the release, the other vehicle was a gray 2026 Toyota Camry being driven by a 19-year-old man from Capitola heading eastbound at the intersection of 152 and Casserly Road at an undetermined speed with a 17-year-old girl in the passenger seat.

Both occupants of the Toyota sustained major injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release. 

Vincent said that both victims have been identified, but their names will not be released until Tuesday at the earliest to give the coroner time to notify the families. He added that they are probably not going to publicly release the 17-year-old girl’s name because she is a juvenile.

The driver and passenger of the Infiniti also sustained major injuries, the press release said. It stated that the driver was transported to Natividad Medical Center for treatment Sunday night by a ground ambulance, and Vincent said the driver is still in the hospital and has been placed under arrest. Vincent also said that the passenger in the Infiniti was transported to the Valley Medical Center by air ambulance Sunday night, and is still in the hospital.

“Just drive safely, be aware of your surroundings, and please don’t drink or use drugs and drive,” Vincent said when asked for comment on the crash.

The post Two teens killed in two-vehicle crash near Watsonville appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and longtime political rival of Republican President Donald Trump, said Monday the president had ordered the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife.

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 June 15

• CHP helped with construction on Sr152 at Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville and Pajaro. The westbound lane was closed, and Sr152 was shut down between Freedom and 5th St., as well as from Ford St. to Main St. Drivers were told to use other routes. The incident was reported on June 14.
   
• There is one-way traffic on SR-129 at the Salsipueda Creek Bridge between Watsonville and Pajaro because of bridge work. This closure will last until 6:01 a.m. tomorrow.
   
• There will be alternating lane closures on both northbound and southbound Highway 9 at Pool Drive in San Lorenzo Valley because of bridge work. The closures will continue until April 30 at 6:59 a.m. in 2027.
   
• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville/Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure is expected to last until July 3, ending at 5:59 a.m.
   
• Alternating lanes are closed on South Highway 1 at Grant Street in Eastside / Live Oak because of bridge work. The closure is expected to end at 6:01 a.m. tomorrow.
   
• Highway 17 at Granite Creek Road in Scotts Valley has one-way traffic because of bridge work. This closure will last until 6:01 a.m. tomorrow.
   
• Highway 9 at Cascade Avenue in San Lorenzo Valley has one-way traffic due to ongoing work. This is expected to last until 7:01 a.m. on August 31.
   
• North Highway 17 at Pasatiempo in Eastside / Live Oak is facing closures for asphalt paving. The closure is expected to end at 6:01 a.m. on June 22.
   
• East and westbound SR-152 at Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville and Pajaro is facing closures for asphalt paving. The closure will end at 5:01 a.m. today.
   
• South Highway 1 at Buena Vista Drive in Watsonville / Pajaro is facing closures for drainage work. The closure is expected to end at 3:59 p.m. today.
   
• A lane is closed on east and west SR-129 at Highway 1 in Watsonville and Pajaro for curb, gutter, and sidewalk work. The closure will end at 2:59 p.m. today.
   
• There is a lane closed on SR-129 at Salsipueda Creek Bridge in the Watsonville / Pajaro area for curb, gutter, and sidewalk work. The closure is expected to end at 2:59 p.m. today.
   
• There is a lane closure on Highway 9 between Westside and Downtown for striping work. The closure is expected to end at 3:30 p.m. on June 16.
   
• There is one-way traffic control on SR-236 at Heartwood Hill in San Lorenzo Valley because of drainage cleaning. The closure is expected to end at 1:30 p.m. on June 17.
   
• One lane on North Highway 9 in San Lorenzo Valley is closed for utility work. The closure will last until 3:01 p.m. tomorrow.
   

Long-term projects

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

• Branciforte Drive between DeLaveaga Park and Glen Canyon Road will have lane closures while county crews remove trees.
   
• On June 17, one lane of East Zayante Road between Woodwardia Ave. and West Zayante Rd in Scotts Valley will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for tree trimming and removal of hazardous trees over the road.
   
• A single lane on Mt. Hermon Road between Lockhart Gulch Road and Covenant Lane in San Lorenzo Valley will be closed on June 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while County crews trim trees and remove hazardous trees leaning over the road.
   

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: SR-152 closed at Freedom Blvd.; multiple lane closures appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz Metro advocates are continuing their push for signatures to get a sales tax ballot measure before county voters in order to secure a local funding source to maintain Metro’s major service increases over the past three years. One program in jeopardy without local funding is Youth Cruz Free, offering free rides to K-12 students, which has shown to be a success among local students and their families.

This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for its daily newsletter.

In coming days, California school districts will find out whether their pressure campaign worked to persuade Gov. Gavin Newsom to turn over the $3.9 billion he planned to withhold, for now, from next year’s state funding for schools and community colleges. 

By midnight Monday, the state Legislature must pass a balanced state budget; legislators and the governor have been negotiating how big it will be and what’s in it.  

The $3.9 billion in question is about $684 per student, depending on how it’s distributed; at a time of declining enrollment and rising expenses, districts say they need the money now, not later.  

Newsom says districts will get it after projected revenue turns into actual cash in hand by early next year, after more revenue is collected. Until then, it’s wise to be cautious, Department of Finance officials warn. 

At issue is how much funding will increase under Proposition 98, the 1988 formula guaranteeing that schools and community colleges receive about 40% of revenue from the state’s general fund. Newsom is projecting that the 2026-27 Prop 98 guarantee would be a record $127.1 billion. 

But state budget forecasters and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office are also hedging their bets, saying that the projection could come up short, and growth may slow or even recede. The question is not if the current boom cycle fueled by artificial-intelligence investments will slow, but when, they say. 

Education advocacy groups disagree with the governor’s approach. With rare unanimity, a coalition of school employee unions and groups representing school boards, school administrators, business officers, charter schools and parents have reacted with anger and indignation, and their members flooded the halls of the Legislature last month to lobby legislators to insert the $3.9 billion into the final budget. 

“It’s not just $3.9 billion, even though that’s a tremendous amount of money, what we’re confronting is an existential threat to the way that we fund public schools here in California,” Troy Flint, chief information officer of the California School Boards Association, said during a news conference outside the Capitol on May 21. 

“That is resources that our kids won’t have, and those are opportunities they will never receive. A dollar delayed is a dollar denied.” 

Tatia Davenport, CEO of the California Association of School Business Officials, said, “Proposition 98 was passed in California by our voters to ensure that education funding could not be traded away during difficult budget years. Prop 98 is unambiguous. It is a guarantee. It is the law. It is not a suggestion.”

And Erika Jones, an elementary school teacher who is secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Association (CTA), added, “Prop 98 is a minimum guarantee. As the fourth-largest economy in the world, California leadership should be striving to give students more than the bare minimum, let alone dipping into that minimum to cover budget shortfalls.”

“If state leadership cares about the future of California, they must stop diverting constitutionally guaranteed funding away from public schools, from fully funding,” she said. 

The remarks are compelling but also somewhat misleading. As with much of the arcane details of state financing and especially Prop 13, it’s always more complicated. 

The unknowns behind the estimates 

The revenues on which a state budget is based every June are tied to a multi-year forecast that can be substantially off. In the last several years, the forecasts have significantly underestimated the revenues. Newsom’s first pass in January at the budget for 2026-27 fiscal year starting July 1 included $21.7 billion more for Prop 98 than the Legislature had budgeted for 2025-26 in June a year ago. All of this excess money will roll forward to 2026-27. 

Then, in the May budget revision, with revenues for 2025-26 continuing to pour in, he upped the Prop 98 forecast again. Newsom, who had proposed in January to withhold $5.6 billion, reduced it to $3.9 billion and used the difference to help fund a higher cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), add to the rainy day fund and increase money for special education.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference in Los Angeles in October 2025. Credit: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press

A primary reason for soaring revenues is that, over the past few years, AI has been the state’s ATM. Unanticipated income and capital gains tax receipts from the state’s wealthiest taxpayers’ investments in artificial intelligence-related corporations are propelling state tax revenues. 

And yet a lot is still unknown. Some corporate and individual taxpayers didn’t pay their 2025 taxes by April 15. Their late payments and previous estimated taxes may be substantially less than anticipated. 

Lessons from the floods of ‘23

What Newsom wants to avoid is overcommitting to Prop 98. That happened three years ago, following massive winter storms and flooding in late December 2022 and January 2023. In pushing back the filing date for 2022 taxes from April 15 to Nov. 16, 2023, for almost all counties, Newsom and the Legislature were left guessing at revenues when they passed the 2023-24 budget the previous June.

They guessed wrong and appropriated $8 billion more than Prop 98 was entitled to. Rather than short schools and community colleges midway through the school year, Newsom and the Legislature, in effect, took out a short-term loan against the non-Prop 98 side of the general fund, the portion of the state budget that covers private childcare, California State University and the University of California. It also includes areas, such as Medi-Cal, with the fastest rising rate of spending that are driving forecasts of budget deficits. 

The Legislature is not likely to bail out schools again using this strategy if there’s another Prop 98 shortfall. 

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has studied how close the Legislature comes to annually estimating state revenue, and found it ran between 4% over or under projections, said Ken Kapphahn, LAO senior fiscal and policy analyst.  Holding back $3.9 billion on a $127 billion Prop 98 guarantee falls in that range. 

No lock-solid timing of the settle-up

In his budget message, Newsom said that he would take another look at revenues early next year (actually, his successor will) and settle up the revenues then, as statutes require. 

But there’s a catch: State law doesn’t state when the money must be repaid — in one year or over several. When education advocates use “gimmick” and “theft” of Prop 98, they’re implying that Newsom and future governors might use Prop 98 obligations as a piggy bank to shore up other parts of the budget. 

Michael Fine, the CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistant Team, the state agency that oversees financially troubled school districts, says he understands all the arguments.

“This is a difficult topic as I agree with both sides,” he wrote in an email. “I understand the risk the administration is hedging against and agree the risk is real, and I recognize the constraints placed in recent years on how to handle over-appropriations of Proposition 98 are problematic. I also fully understand and appreciate the argument around the intent of Proposition 98 being made by advocates.”

Since the May revision, three blockbuster AI corporations — SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI — announced they will go public with stock offerings in coming months, signaling billions more in taxable earnings in a frenzy of stock sales — or not, if they’re a bust. Unstable oil prices and rising inflation also complicate revenue projections. 

The Ed Coalition can count on the Democratic majorities in the Senate and in the Assembly. Both have gone on record supporting restoring full funding in the final budget. 

In their alternative proposal, Senate leaders would build back the $3.9 billion, and specify how to spend it:

• Raise the discretionary block grant by $1.5 billion
• Add to the rainy day fund by $1.2 billion
• Raise the grant program for career/technical education by $300 million
• Fund schools’ kitchen infrastructure by $900 million

Democratic leaders in the Assembly are vague about how to fund the $3.9 billion, but in the Assembly’s budget outline, they make their priority clear: “The Governor’s January proposal shortchanged schools by billions. The state constitution requires those dollars to flow — and they will.”

Under the state constitution, the Legislature must pass a state budget by June 15. If not then, certainly by June 30, there will be an answer to the $3.9 billion question. 

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

The post California school districts battle for $3.9 billion they argue is due now, not later appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

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

The state of California is walking back protections meant to keep destructive golden mussels out of Lake Oroville, one of the largest and most important reservoirs in the state. 

The move follows a new state-funded risk assessment that the invasive species poses a lower risk to the lake, which water managers say changes the state’s calculus on costly and difficult measures aimed at keeping the invaders at bay.  

No state agencies or scientists have found mussels in Oroville yet. But invasive species experts say the revised policy of the Department of Water Resources increases the likelihood that golden mussels will invade Lake Oroville and hitch a ride on boats to other lakes.  They disagree, though, about whether preventing such an incursion is even possible. 

”California is under an epidemic of golden mussels,” said Anthony Ricciardi, a professor of biology and the director of the Bieler School of Environment at McGill University. “Like in any epidemic, you got to control the key hubs — or else the war is lost.”

Reopening Lake Oroville

California water managers first discovered golden mussels invading California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in October 2024 — marking their first detection in North America. 

The voracious and rapidly spreading mussels can encrust surfaces so thoroughly that they choke off water supplies and damage dams and power plants. 

They are now invading critical infrastructure in the Delta. And the very pumps, canals and aqueducts that keep water flowing to much of the state are funneling the larvae to irrigation districts and water suppliers downstream.

San Joaquin and Kern counties have declared states of emergency, and state officials are updating key facilities along the state’s nature-defying water delivery system to reduce mussel damage. 

With summer weather coming in hot, state water managers said that they are ending a program to prevent mussels and their larvae from stowing away on boats to invade Lake Oroville, one of California’s largest reservoirs. 

The department now no longer requires inspections and decontamination for boats launching at Lake Oroville and nearby reservoirs — the Thermalito Forebay and the Thermalito Afterbay. 

The Department of Water Resources says lakes and launches upstream in the Feather River watershed didn’t take similar precautions, raising the risk that golden mussel larvae would wash into the reservoir on river flows regardless of the boat inspections.

The cost of the inspection program for the lake was also around $7.5 million to start it up, and $6.5 million per year to continue it. Installing UV treatment to prevent mussels from settling in the pipes at powerplants downstream from Oroville, by contrast, would cost an estimated $1 million. 

“We severely impacted recreation at that lake,” said Tanya Veldhuizen, special projects section manager in the California Department of Water Resources’ environmental assessment branch.  “We also evaluated the risk to our infrastructure and what it would take to mitigate mussels — and that was much lower than expected.” 

Cold water, fewer mussels? 

The decision reflects the findings from a new risk analysis the department commissioned for these reservoirs and related hydropower and fishery hatchery facilities, as well as for the Upper Feather River Lakes. 

Conducted by a Canada-based consulting firm specializing in aquatic invasive species, the assessment reports that, while surface temperatures are warm enough for the mussels to survive in shallower water at Lake Oroville, they’re too cold lower down for the mussels to reproduce at depths greater than 60 feet below the surface. 

Unlike the Delta, the waters at Lake Oroville are also low in nutrients, Veldhuizen said. Between the scarce food, cold temperatures, and water levels that drop enough to dry out mussels on the shoreline, Veldhuizen said she doesn’t expect the mussels to reach nuisance levels. 

The department also expects cold water released from the reservoir will slow the growth of any larvae that reach the Feather River Fish Hatchery and the Oroville-Thermalito Complex powerplants downstream.

But Oroville’s shoreline, boats and docks remain at risk — and that’s what worries Ricciardi. 

“That’s where the action is. The boats will be moving them,” Ricciardi said — because boats, the water used for ballast inside them, and aquatic weeds clinging to them and their trailers can ferry mussels from one lake to another. 

Warden Mark Rose guides Allee as she sniffs watercraft at Thermalito Forebay in Oroville to search for golden mussels. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters

And adult mussels can actually survive even in very cold water, says Demetrio Boltovskoy, a retired researcher formerly at Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council. One study in China found they can live for weeks at near-freezing temperatures. 

Still, Boltovskoy said that while he isn’t specifically familiar with Lake Oroville, reducing precautions may be reasonable.  

“No matter what precautionary measures you take, sooner or later it will spread,” he said. “I don’t think that stopping their range expansion is actually feasible at all.”

But invasive species experts are sharply divided on the subject. That’s true especially in California. 

Last year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told CalMatters that invasions delayed translated to money saved. This year, the wildlife department directed inquiries about the new Oroville strategy to the Department of Water Resources. 

“There’s so much to protect yet,” Martha Volkoff, environmental program manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Invasive Species Program, said last summer. “Yes, it’s a lot of work, but the long-term savings — to the environment and to all the other ways that it costs us — is investment well spent, even if we just delay new introductions.” 

Relying on boaters: Clean, drain, dry

The responsibility now rests more heavily with boaters to ensure their boats are clean, drained and dry — especially when leaving an infested body of water, like the Delta. 

If state water managers detect mussels at Lake Oroville, she said, the department will begin inspecting boats as they leave the lake. 

It’s a strategy already in use at other infested lakes, including Castaic and Pyramid.

Managers of other Northern California lakes told CalMatters they will continue their inspection programs, including at lakes Folsom, Tahoe and Berryessa. 

Drew Gantner, manager of water resources at Solano County Water Agency, which oversees the mussel program at Lake Berryessa, called the Oroville decision concerning.

“If Lake Oroville does surrender its program and becomes infested with golden mussels, it creates an increased risk for all water bodies,” Gantner said. “At that point, any watercraft travelling to Berryessa [or anywhere else] from Lake Oroville would essentially be no different than watercraft coming from the Delta.”  

Ricciardi agreed that the stakes extend well past Oroville’s dam and downstream facilities. 

“There is another thing about invasions. They often surprise you,” Ricciardi said. “Sometimes invaders don’t act the way they’re supposed to act.”

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

The post California scales back golden mussel safeguards at vital reservoir, alarming experts appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Singer and Santa Cruz native Oliver Tree was among six dead after two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning and crashed in the Brazilian city’s western zone.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s first major new thrill ride in a decade, Vertigo 360, offers riders a soaring, upside-down view of Monterey Bay while adding to the park’s growing lineup of attractions. Along the way, Lily Belli samples several new food offerings, from smash burgers and smoked brisket to beignets and dirty sodas, highlighting the Boardwalk’s expanding culinary options.

As she prepares to sell the Aptos house she shared with her late husband for more than four decades, former Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach revisits the rooms, memories and milestones that shaped the happiest chapter of her life. She will be having an estate sale June 19-21. She bought the house in 1981. She now expects it to fund her life as a widow in New York.

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

The California Legislature wants to stall plans to share information about California drivers — including more than 1 million immigrant license holders who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. — with a little-known nonprofit agency made up of motor vehicle administrators across the nation. 

The Assembly and Senate’s budget agreement, released Thursday night, withholds $55 million in funding for the California Department of Motor Vehicles to link to a database that would begin fulfilling requests for information from other states about California drivers early next year.

The governor’s office and DMV want to share that information with the State-to-State system and SPEX platform, which lets states check for duplicate licenses and is operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

Because the system records the last five digits of a driver’s Social Security number and uses a placeholder such as “99999” for people without one, opponents of the plan warned it could easily flag drivers who lack a Social Security number.

Immigrant advocates worry the upload could leave undocumented Californians vulnerable to deportation if the information goes to Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Californians are eligible to obtain a standard driver’s license regardless of their immigration status under a 2014 law known as Assembly Bill 60.

State officials say the data sharing is needed to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which sets requirements for accepting state identification at federal facilities such as airports.

In response to the Legislature’s budget proposal, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson encouraged people who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. to leave the country.

The Senate released its budget proposal Tuesday evening, and the funding for the DMV’s State-to-State Verification program was not included. The Legislature must adopt a budget by June 15 but has until June 30 to negotiate budget details with the governor.   

Leaving out the $55 million from the state budget would not completely kill the DMV’s plan, advocates said. Budget negotiations between the two houses and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office could continue. Lawmakers could still revive the appropriation through follow-up budget legislation or a separate budget bill.

But it could mean the DMV is unlikely to receive the funding by July 1, the date it had targeted to begin sharing the data, according to Jessie Schmitte, a state policy manager with Alliance San Diego, a community-based human rights organization, which has been tracking the proposal. Nearly 200 organizations signed on to a letter by the coalition in opposition to the DMV data sharing plan. The data sharing plan also attracted protestors to a San Francisco branch of the DMV earlier this month.

Some advocates credited CalMatters with bringing the issue to light in a news story earlier this year. 

“As you probably know, a lot of organizations weren’t aware of these conversations until, thankfully, the CalMatters article came out and brought air into this conversation for everybody who has not had a seat at the table,” said Schmitte. “If you were really serious about protecting Californians and doubling down on privacy concerns, you wouldn’t be running away from these conversations.” 

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has asked for $55 million to share its driver license data to a national organization. Advocates say the move could endanger unauthorized immigrants. Credit: Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters

The DMV needs more than funding to carry out the plan. State law prohibits the DMV from sharing a Social Security number obtained through the licensing process for most purposes, which means the state needs additional legislation before providing information to the national nonprofit, a step the DMV’s own budget request notes. 

The state wants to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country. It would be used to help other states ensure that people don’t simultaneously hold identification documents elsewhere. Advocates worry local officials in those states might pass to the federal government information from the association database on apparent unauthorized immigrants. The association has said its database can’t be searched in bulk or without specific information like name and date of birth.

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, whose district includes part of Santa Cruz County, said discussions about the California DMV funding are ongoing. Staff for two other lawmakers also did not respond to a request for information about negotiations. 

Newsom’s office referred questions to the Department of Finance. Spokesperson H.D. Palmer said “discussions have been underway and are continuing.”  

At this late hour, it seems unlikely a compromise could be reached by the deadline the DMV gave, said Andrea Guerrero, the founding executive director of Alliance San Diego. 

“It’s hard to imagine what kind of change could be made while we’re standing at the end of a plank,” she said. 

CalMatters reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this story.

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

The post California Legislature in standoff with DMV over sharing driver license data with other states appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Top 10 exciting job opportunities in Santa Cruz County – Apply today!

Are you searching for your next career move in Santa Cruz County? Look no further! We’ve curated a list of the top 10 job opportunities recently posted to our job board, spanning various industries and roles. Whether you’re a recent graduate, seasoned professional, or someone seeking a fresh start, Santa Cruz has something to offer for everyone.

1. Pastry & Kitchen Manager at The Penny Ice Creamery
2. Assistant Manager of Operations at The Quail
3. Maintenance Engineer at The Quail
4. Caregiver for Seniors – Part Time at Home Senior Care, Inc.
5. Accounting Technician at County of Santa Cruz Human Resources Department
6. Shop Manager at The Penny Ice Creamery
7. Short Term Camp Bus Driver at Camp Ramah in Northern California
8. Forest Stewardship Manager at Sempervirens Fund
9. Project Manager 1 at MYNT Systems
10. Residential Community Service Supervisor at UC Santa Cruz

Why work in Santa Cruz County?

Santa Cruz County boasts a vibrant community, picturesque surroundings, and diverse career opportunities. From academic roles at UC Santa Cruz to impactful positions in healthcare and local government, the perfect place to support both your professional growth and work-life balance.

Ready to take the next step?

Apply for these exciting job opportunities in Santa Cruz County today!

FIND MORE ON THE LOOKOUT JOB BOARD >> Looking to hire? Build your team with us

• List your open positions: Amplify your job listings to reach engaged Santa Cruz County job seekers – post your job today.
• Save with job bundles: Purchase a job board bundle of 4 or 8 listings and save 25%. Redeem your jobs anytime. Bundles never expire. Get Your Bundles Here.
• Exclusive discounts for Marketing Partners: Are you a Lookout Marketing Partner? Contact your representative today to access your exclusive discount.

Questions about the job board? Reach out to Brittany at brittany@lookoutlocal.com.

The post 10 Hot Jobs in Santa Cruz County: Week of June 12 appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

As Capitola continues its switch to district-based elections, the city council approved the creation of four districts plus an elected mayor with a two-year term. The first districting maps are expected to be publicly shared by June 17.

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 June 12

• Highway 9 at Cascade Avenue in San Lorenzo Valley has one-way traffic due to ongoing work. This closure will last until 7:01 a.m. on August 31.
   
• South Highway 1 at Park Avenue in Capitola / Soquel is facing closures for roadway excavation. The closure is expected to end at 7:01 a.m. on August 19.
   
• There will be alternating lane closures on Highway 9 at Pool Drive in San Lorenzo Valley because of bridge work. The closures will continue until April 30 at 6:59 a.m.
   
• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville and Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure will last until July 3 at 5:59 a.m.
   
• CHP helped Caltrans with maintenance on SR152 at Pennsylvania Dr in Watsonville/Pajaro. As of 6:10 a.m. today, one lane was closed, but it was not clear which lane.
   
• A dark, old car with its right blinker on was reported as a traffic hazard in the left turn lane at Elkhorn and Hall in the Watsonville / Pajaro area today.
   

Long-term projects

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

• Thurber Ln near 4672 Thurber Ln in Santa Cruz (Eastside / Live Oak) will be fully closed for tree trimming and vegetation management by county crews from June 8 to today during work hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
   
• Single lane closures are in place on Soquel Drive between Huntington Drive and Jaunell Road in Aptos from June 11 to today, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., for County crews to do overhead tree trimming.
   
• Overnight roadwork to improve bridges and ramps on Highway 1, Highway 9, and Highway 17 in Santa Cruz County will start Tuesday, May 26. There will be occasional overnight closures at different spots along these routes through July.
   

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 Friday morning traffic: Highway 9, Hwy 1, SR-152 lane closures; tree work on Soquel Dr, Thurber Ln appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

After “The Lost Boys” first transformed Santa Cruz into Santa Carla, fans from around the world still make the pilgrimage to the Beach Boardwalk and Atlantis Fantasyworld. The final installment of Lookout’s series explores the movie’s enduring cult following, the return of Frog Brother Jamison Newlander and why the annual beach screening has become a summer ritual.