The funding will be used in the first phase of construction for the project in both Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, adding onto the previous $4.6 million in funding toward the preconstruction, engineering and design phases of the project.
Grace Stetson
Grace comes to Lookout from just over the hill, originally from Sunnyvale but with a variety of journalism experience from across the country.After doing her undergrad at Seattle University, Grace earned a master’s in journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School, where she focused on housing and gentrification issues via roles with The Chicago Reader, Illinois Public Media, and WNYC.In 2018, she moved to Brooklyn, where she joined the team at Dateline NBC as a full-time program coordinator. In this position, she balanced reporting work for the show’s online Cold Case Spotlights vertical with assistant production on special episodes, and connected with the Story Development team in preparing daily briefs on news-of-the-day.Since returning to the South Bay Area in Sept. 2020, Grace has freelanced for local publications such as San Jose Spotlight, Metro Silicon Valley, and The Six Fifty. Having lived in many places across the U.S. and worked for small, mid-tier, and larger markets, Grace is excited to delve back into community journalism with Lookout Santa Cruz.“This team and endeavor is such an exciting opportunity, and an exciting vision for what the future of local news can look like,” she says. “I can’t wait to have the chance to serve this community with high-quality, in-depth journalism.”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Breaking down the county’s ‘siloed’ homelessness response: New task force brings together varied stakeholders
How will Santa Cruz County better strategize around homelessness solutions? The new “H4HP” policy board, made up of key leaders and experts from around the area, is intended to up the ante of what a policymaking board can achieve on the one of the most pressing issues of our time.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
As California becomes an abortion sanctuary, Planned Parenthood readies itself for an influx of patients
Local clinics are beginning to plan to build out the capacity to serve women who can’t be served elsewhere as states including Texas pass new restrictions on abortion.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
‘It’s really unknown territory’: Longtime Planned Parenthood leaders look back — and forward
With the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion seemingly under threat and states across the country passing laws that greatly restrict a woman’s right to choose, local activists see “a grim, grim future” ahead but say they’re committed to keeping Planned Parenthood’s health care role in Santa Cruz a central one.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Flexible density units’: Another tool to increase Santa Cruz’s housing supply
The Santa Cruz City Council has approved another option in the city’s housing toolkit, with planners saying FDUs would increase the housing supply primarily around the downtown area and in the corridor along Soquel Avenue.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Unveiling Live Oak’s big new community health and dentistry center
Dientes and Santa Cruz Community Health will both open their fourth county locations this fall, this a joint one on Capitola Road near 17th Avenue. The aim: to serve the underinsured, uninsured and homeless.
Posted inHousing & Development
Four years and counting. Why does it take so long to get one Santa Cruz housing project off the ground?
Three weeks ago, local developer Workbench broke ground on a 13-townhouse development in Soquel. Lookout talked to founding partner Jamileh Cannon about why it took so long to begin building — the impact of legislative efforts to speed construction of housing.
Posted inHousing & Development
Want to rent a Santa Cruz studio? You’ll pay double what you paid last year
112%, 15%, 14% and 9%. In just one year, the numbers tell the story of the affordability crisis.
Posted inHousing & Development
Book a stay at a Santa Cruz ‘super-rental’: It’s only $1,000 a night
Rents are soaring across California and the country. Here in Santa Cruz County, even the top end of the market is becoming ridiculous.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A forced overhaul of Santa Cruz government: How we got into this districting ‘mess’ & what happens from here
The city of Santa Cruz has been known for its “weak mayor” system for years. Now that a major overhaul of local governance is in order come November with district-by-district representation, some suggest there has never been more of a need for strong leadership from the mayor’s seat. While a vote to create a more nuanced role for a four-year mayor in June still won’t result in what cities call a “strong mayor” system, local political veterans hope it will elicit the type of strong leader needed for the difficult road ahead.