The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is inviting the community to provide input on how it will invest voter-approved revenue from Measure D, a transportation improvement tax that was approved by voters in 2016 to provide funds for highway, trail, rail, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and transit programs in Santa Cruz County.
Lookout Santa Cruz
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Santa Cruz County plans restoration work at Freedom Lake
The Santa Cruz County Parks Department is planning a “collaborative initiative” to restore and maintain Freedom Lake in Watsonville that will remove invasive and overgrown non-native vegetation that has limited access to the lake’s shore.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
New guide to Big Basin’s Redwood Loop published
A new guide to the Redwood Loop Trail at Big Basin Redwoods State Park has been published. Written by a team of biologists and environmental scientists, it addresses the effects of the catastrophic 2020 fire on the park and the long-term changes to the landscape that it ushered in, including the impact on plants and animals in the park.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County has nearly 50 vacancies on its boards and commissions
Across the 38 boards and commissions that advise on policy decisions throughout Santa Cruz County, 45 seats sit vacant, an issue that has slowed the work of some appointed bodies.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County supervisors advance seismic shifts to cannabis consumption rules
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday told cannabis division staff to draw up an ordinance allowing on-site cannabis lounges. The supervisors are expected to take their first vote on the new rules on Dec. 10. If passed, a second vote would likely come sometime in January, with the lounges becoming legal 30 days later.
Posted inLatest News
KAZU wins Edward R. Murrow Award for flooding coverage
The newsroom of public radio station KAZU was recently recognized with a 2024 national Edward R. Murrow Award for its coverage of flooding that devastated Santa Cruz County last year.
Posted inLatest News
Highway 1 Fishhook connector will close Wednesday night
The Fishhook connector at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 17 in Santa Cruz will be fully closed overnight on Wednesday, Oct. 30, for the replacement of a damaged girder.
Posted inLatest News
Inspector seeks ‘full transparency’ on Santa Cruz County Jail deaths
The first report of an Office of Inspector General established to hold the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office accountable is calling for “full transparency” on the in-custody deaths of three men and sexual assault of another, while recommending an overhaul of use-of-force policies and the way the department investigates such incidents.
Posted inLatest News
Sunday Reads: Día de Los Muertos reflections; Claudia Sternbach’s sous-chef
Specially curated stories from Lookout Santa Cruz correspondents and opinion from Community Voices contributors.
Posted inLatest News
Inspector General: Reform Santa Cruz sheriff force, body camera policies
The first annual report of the Office of Inspector General calls on the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to require deputies turn body cameras on for routine calls and recommends an overhaul of how the department handles use of force incidents and investigations into them.