Teachers, mental health clinicians and parents packed Watsonville’s City Council chambers Wednesday night to plead with Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials to scrap a plan to cut 160 full-time positions next month.
Tania Ortiz
Tania Ortiz joins Lookout Santa Cruz as the California Local News Fellow to cover South County. Tania earned her master’s degree in journalism in December 2023 from Syracuse University, where she was a Newhouse Diversity News Fellow. In Syracuse, she covered life and culture for Syracuse.com, writing features on local artists and organizations making an impact on the community.
While studying for her master’s, Tania also reported on feminist collectives in Mexico and their efforts to support families of femicide victims as a Pulitzer Center grantee. She’s also written for other publications such as the Charleston City Paper, The South Side Stand and the Los Angeles Journal.
Originally from Oceanside, Tania is excited to be reporting in her home state after living on the East Coast for two years. She looks forward to learning more about Santa Cruz County and connecting with the community through her reporting.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Battery storage developer backs Santa Cruz County’s proposed new rules ahead of Tuesday vote
New Leaf Energy, the developer behind the proposed battery storage facility near Watsonville, tells Lookout that the company is hopeful the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will move ahead on new regulations for battery plants on Tuesday.
Posted inLatest News
CHP officer, motorist hurt after falling tree strikes vehicles on Highway 17 during powerful storm
Two people, including a California Highway Patrol officer, were treated in hospital for minor injuries after a tree fell onto their vehicles on Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains during a powerful storm that swept through the region on Thursday.
Posted inHousing & Development
Live Oak neighbors appeal approval of 57-unit Capitola Road project, challenge use of state’s ‘builder’s remedy’ law
Residents near a proposed Capitola Road apartment complex led by local developer Workbench are appealing the Santa Cruz County planning commission’s approval of the project, arguing the builder can’t take advantage of state laws to override local control.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Capitola police chief says immigration officials’ access to its license plate reader database was a mistake
Federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies accessed databases with information collected by Capitola’s automated license plate readers on behalf of immigration officials between 2024 and early this year. Capitola’s police chief says it was a mistake.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Watsonville City Council wants more say in county’s battery storage ordinance
As Santa Cruz County officials work on battery storage facility regulations, members of the Watsonville City Council say they want their concerns to be heard.
Posted inEnvironment
County publishes new draft battery storage rules ahead of first hearing on Nov. 18
After delays, Santa Cruz County officials publish more stringent plans to regulate battery storage facilities ahead of the first public hearings on on the proposed new rules Nov. 18.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Watsonville City Council moves to scrap project labor agreement, despite pushback from trades council
The Watsonville City Council voted Wednesday to scrap its project labor agreement, which sets standards for wages, benefits and working hours on city projects. Following the vote, city staff and the local trades council will go back to the drawing board to create a new set of rules.
Posted inLatest News
Scotts Valley assisted living facility to renovate units for disabled residents free of charge as part of class action settlement
Brookdale Scotts Valley, an assisted living facility, has agreed to renovate housing units to accommodate residents with mobility issues and update policies to settle a federal class action lawsuit.
Posted inLatest News
Headstone of one of Santa Cruz County’s first teachers, missing for years, found near storage facility
The tombstone of Mary Amney Case, Santa Cruz County’s first English-speaking schoolteacher, disappeared years ago and was believed to be stolen. Now, it has made its way to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History after being found under a pile of leaves near a storage facility.