In Lookout’s second candidate forum of the 2024 election season, candidates vying to represent District 1 on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and both Measure M advocates and opponents took to the stage to discuss and debate everything from transit and budgets to housing and inclusionary rates. The primary election is set for March 5.
Westside / Downtown
Rustico Italian Street Food plans to bring Roman pizza to downtown Santa Cruz
Former Mentone pizza chef and accredited pizzaiolo Francesco Ramunno is opening his own restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz. At Rustico, Ramunno plans to offer Roman-style pizza and Italian street food like arancini and focaccia.
With 20,000 still out of power and road closures remaining, one confirmed death surfaces in post-storm Santa Cruz County
More than 20,000 Santa Cruz County residents were still out of power late Monday morning and a few major roadways were closed Monday morning as locals began to recover after Sunday’s heavy windstorm. Tragedy struck in Boulder Creek on Sunday afternoon, where a tree fell onto a home on the 14100 block of Highway 9. […]
In the Public Interest: Lookout forums continue, Measure M for Maybe, what mountain voters want
In his weekly newsletter covering Santa Cruz County politics and policy, Christopher Neely previews a pair of Lookout election forums this week, digs into what Measure M might and might not mean, talks to voters in the Santa Cruz Mountains about what they’re looking for in their new District 5 county supervisor and more.
Measure M — Santa Cruz’s height limit and affordability measure — is the Measure of Much Debate, Many Questions and Murky Answers
We won’t know the true impact of Measure M unless it goes active. Here’s what we do know on its key questions: height, affordability and the possible dilemma of the 7-foot fence. On March 5, voters in the city of Santa Cruz will have to decide how to cast their ballots.
UCSC students raise campus transit concerns in three-hour town hall
In the wake of a fatal bus crash and a damaging California Highway Patrol report that called UC Santa Cruz transit operations “an imminent threat to public safety,” students shared their frustrations at a town hall meeting Friday.
Long-debated oversized vehicle law seeks five-year enforcement horizon
Director of Community Development Lee Butler said the approval allows the city to enforce the ordinance for five years, rather than one, before it needs to renew the coastal development permit again. He said staff made this decision in coordination with the California Coastal Commission to provide the city more time to make adjustments and address issues that will inevitably come up.
CHP says UC Santa Cruz transit service ‘imminent danger to public safety’ after shuttle inspections
The California Highway Patrol classified UC Santa Cruz’s transit service as an “imminent danger to public safety” after conducting inspections in the wake of December’s bus crash on campus. UCSC officials say they’re making improvements.
Santa Cruz planning commission mulls renewing city’s oversized vehicle ordinance permit Thursday
If the planning commission approves the permit at its meeting Thursday night, the City of Santa Cruz will have more than three months to address any appeals that may be filed between Thursday and May 11, when the existing permit is set to expire.
Santa Cruz Metro floats plan to take over UCSC campus loop bus service
As UC Santa Cruz faces increasing pressure from students and union workers to improve its bus system, campus and Santa Cruz Metro officials say they’re in talks to do just that. Outgoing Metro CEO Michael Tree says the talks are very preliminary for Metro to take over the campus loop buses.

