Quick Take:
B Corporations, including the Santa Cruz businesses highlighted here, make it their mission to balance profit with...
Happy Monday evening, everybody. Your faithful Lookout crew hopes you had a pleasant and restful President’s Day. And, if you didn’t have it off, hopefully it wasn’t too hectic.
So you can get back to whatever you were doing, let’s jump right into the headlines.
Unhoused Santa Cruz: The struggle for families is real — and for one family, tragedy followed triumph
Part II: The number of families experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County continues to increase despite the efforts by local leaders to prioritize them. Lookout learned that the number hit a two-year high in January after spiking by 27% over the past six months. One family saw the hard work needed to get rehoused finally pay off. During their day of celebration, tragedy struck. Lookout’s Mark Conley takes a deep look here.
➤ Part I: Three universal truths about why this county remains among the capitals of homelessness
Cabrillo poised to unveil ‘Befana’ at the Crocker, plus Mermen news and Avant Garden Party returns
Ur, it’s February: Yes, “Befana” is a Christmas fable, and Omicron delayed its premiere. But, Wallace Baine writes as he looks ahead to what’s coming on the local arts scene, the mini-opera’s spirit extends well beyond the holiday season. See the details here.
➤ Full listings: See our calendar of things to do here.
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UCSC student leads charge to provide free menstrual products to students on campus
Period equity: UC Santa Cruz second-year Amanda Safi believes that if toilet paper is free in public restrooms, menstrual products should be too. She’s on a mission to ensure that youth who can’t afford menstrual products have access to free pads and tampons. Lookout’s Hillary Ojeda has the details here.
Even freeways that don’t get built leave a scar. How one Bay Area city is healing
Lasting damage: After decades, hundreds of homes in the Bay Area became available when a freeway project was abandoned. What happened? Our partners at the Los Angeles Times look into things here.
➤ LATEST JOBS IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: See all the most recent listings here.
- Guest Service Host at CineLux Theatres
- B2B Customer Service Specialist at Bay Photo Lab
- Senior Financial Support Specialist (Accounting Grants) at Cabrillo College
As drought lingers, larger and more destructive wildfires pose new threats to water supply
Deep concern: Wildfires are increasing streamflow throughout the Western U.S., raising new threats for public safety and water management, according to researchers. Read up on the issue here.
ICYMI: John Craigie’s longing for home stands out among the best songs ever written about California
Upcoming performances: A Santa Cruz cameo in a Super Bowl ad brings columnist Wallace Baine to thinking about one of Ingelwood’s native sons — the venue of this year’s football fest — and that person’s contributions to the musical mystic that is California. John Craigie, who performs locally next month, went to UCSC in the 90s and was transformed by the experience. Wallace Baine gets the skinny here.
A war to halt logging in Northern California reignites. Will it end differently this time?
Simmering tensions: Activists have fought for decades to stop logging at Jackson State Forest. Now an Indigenous tribe is demanding a say in the fate of their ancestral homeland. More details here.
More from here & elsewhere
➤ Young mom among string of missing Native women in California (Sentinel)
➤ Worker-owned Bay Area food businesses are on the rise. Is it a turning point for the industry? (San Francisco Chronicle)
➤ Prospective UC Berkeley students anxiously brace for enrollment freeze (Mercury News)
➤ What we know about the planned Amazon warehouse in Salinas (KSBW)
And that’s the way it was on this Monday night. Have a good one and we’ll see you tomorrow.
Dan Evans
Executive Editor