SPECIAL REPORT: The company that bought Watsonville Community Hospital in 2019 abruptly stopped managing it last month. The new manager has a troubled history and is under congressional scrutiny. A third party owns the hospital’s building and land. So who’s really calling the shots?
Patrick Riley
Follow Patrick Riley on: Twitter. Patrick Riley is Lookout Santa Cruz’s county government accountability reporter. He comes to Lookout from Florida, where he covered Collier County government for the Naples Daily News. Before that, he covered breaking news, cops, courts and the city of Bonita Springs, also for the Daily News.He can be reached at patrick@lookoutlocal.com.
Posted inHousing & Development
‘Moral imperative’: Santa Cruz County sets goal of getting all homeless families sheltered by end of year
County leaders want to prioritize services for homeless families with children, saying the idea of finding housing or shelter for all 120 such families is attainable.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Before Hwy. 1 widening can start, large Santa Cruz homeless camp must move. But where will it go?
New Leaf Community Markets brand manager Lindsay Gizdich said the store is moving from Pacific Avenue in order to have…
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Key step toward a campus return: Kindergarten teacher vaccinations set table for more formal school plan
LOOKOUT EXCLUSIVE: Moves to get the educators and staff that oversee Santa Cruz County’s youngest students vaccinated may set in motion a game plan for the return of in-person learning.
Posted inLatest News
Cal Fire investigating downed wires as ‘potential origin’ of Freedom Fire, PG&E report says
LOOKOUT SPECIAL REPORT: It hasn’t yet been determined if downed power lines sparked rare winter fires that displaced…
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Vaccine showdown: Schools here can apply to re-open, but in-person classes unlikely until teachers get doses
In a remarkable display of unity, teachers’ unions from eight of the county’s 10 public school districts joined forces in a letter to county Health Officer Gail Newel on Friday, asking her to reconsider her stance on letting at least some teachers get the COVID-19 vaccine now.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Rail on coastal corridor takes next step by 9-3 vote, but cost questions take center stage, too
Although three quarters of RTC members voted to accept a recommendation that both rail and a recreation path run along the coastal corridor, that vote far from guarantees that passenger rail will ever be implemented.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Rail Trail decision day: Pivotal vote will either cement or derail passenger rail’s future on coastal line
If Regtional Transportation Commissioners accept a rail-and-trail model, the RTC staff will then create a passenger rail business plan to be presented in April. If not, RTC staff will have to go back to the drawing board
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Family of inmate who died of ‘excessive water consumption’ at Santa Cruz County Jail sues sheriff, others
New Leaf Community Markets brand manager Lindsay Gizdich said the store is moving from Pacific Avenue in order to have…
Posted inHousing & Development
Big tech, little affordable housing: County asks Facebook, Apple, Google to own part of this market’s problem
Even though Santa Cruz County has long been a bedroom community for Silicon Valley tech workers, the county has received little help from tech giants Facebook, Apple and Google to manage a festering housing affordability crisis, county supervisors say. Last week, county leaders wrote letters asking their over-the-hill neighbors for more aid with the problem.