Lookout has been nominated for “Excellence in Breaking News” for our reporting on the series of atmospheric rivers that caused widespread flooding, landslides and ocean swells across Santa Cruz County in January 2023. The coverage also won a Pulitzer Prize in May. Other Scripps Howard Award finalists in the category are the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. The winner will be announced Oct. 20.
Lookout Santa Cruz
Posted inLatest News
Sarah Christensen will lead Regional Transportation Commission
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has a new executive director — Sarah Christensen, a senior transportation engineer at the agency. Christensen will enter into a three-year contract with the RTC and will report directly to the board of directors. She will start on Monday.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley school board member Jennifer Holm resigns
Jennifer Holm has resigned as a member of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees effective Oct. 10, the district announced Tuesday evening. Holm, a former president of the board, has represented Area 7 on the board for the past six years. There are two years left on her term. According to a release from the district, she cited the “increasing demands” of her job as director of the nursing program at Cabrillo College.
Posted inCapitola & Soquel
Bat tests positive for rabies in Soquel, dog that found it is OK
The Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency and Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter confirmed on Tuesday that a bat found in the Soquel area has tested positive for rabies. A dog that made contact with the bat was fully vaccinated and not harmed by the interaction.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County Democrats endorse Kristen Brown
The Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee has endorsed Kristen Brown for District 2 county supervisor over her opponent, Kim De Serpa. The committee is also endorsing a “yes” vote on Measure Z (Santa Cruz’s 2-cent-per-ounce tax on the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks), Measure Y (Capitola’s sales tax rate increase to 9.25%) and Watsonville’s proposed charter amendments, which include removing a citizenship requirement to serve on the city’s boards and commissions. The committee is recommending a “no” vote on Measure U, a San Lorenzo Valley Water District proposal that would cap regular service charge increases to 2% per year until 2049.
Posted inLatest News
Trails to close for Santa Cruz Mountains work prepping for burns
Trails will close intermittently as the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County is working through December on a 211-acre wildfire resilience project in the upper Aptos Creek watershed of the Santa Cruz Mountains that will in part set the stage for controlled burns by California State Parks staff.
Posted inLatest News
Sunday Reads: Readers’ festival ideas; Claudia Sternbach’s milestone trip
SUNDAY READS Sept. 1, 2024 Festival fantasies: Readers kick around ideas about the ultimate Santa Cruz event Readers responded to the proposal of a new annual Santa Cruz arts festival with a number of creative ideas that touch on art, technology, social innovation, psychedelics, athletics and even dogs. Here’s what Wallace Baine heard. 10 hot […]
Posted inLatest News
Delays on Highway 1 likely Sept. 3-5 for pedestrian bridge work
Motorists will experience overnight delays of up to 10 minutes on a section of Highway 1 in Santa Cruz Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 3-5, as work continues on a new pedestrian bridge. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., a single lane of both northbound and southbound Highway 1 will be closed between 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive.
Posted inLatest News
Metro offers free rides, ticket discounts to Santa Cruz County Fair
The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District will offer free Metro fares and discounted tickets to the Santa Cruz County Fair at the Watsonville Fairgrounds Sept. 11-15.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Labor union council backs Santa Cruz County’s Measure Q
The Monterey Bay Central Labor Council is endorsing a “yes” vote on Santa Cruz County’s Measure Q, which would fund projects focused on building resilience to wildfires and other natural disasters through a special tax of $87 on each parcel of land located within the county (with some exceptions).