Lookout PM: A Valentine’s Day Weekender, PVUSD approves stay-away letter for trustee Gabe Medina, and Watsonville to restrict feds from using city sites for immigration enforcement

Weekender: Hearts afire for Valentine’s Day

Your cheat sheet for eating well and going out in Santa Cruz County this weekend, with recommendations from Lily Belli and specially curated event listings from Lookout’s BOLO calendar.

Pajaro Valley Unified school board approves stay-away letter for trustee Gabe Medina in disorderly meeting

In a contentious meeting marked by repeated disruptions, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board voted to issue a two-week stay-away letter barring Trustee Gabe Medina from Pajaro Valley High School after he confronted the principal during a student walkout last month.

Watsonville becomes first city in Santa Cruz County to restrict feds from using its facilities for immigration enforcement activities

By Tania Ortiz

Watsonville is the first city in Santa Cruz County to prohibit the use of city-owned facilities for federal immigration enforcement. It follows in the footsteps of cities such as San Jose and Santa Clara, which have adopted similar policies.

Home sales dip, but new listings rise in January county housing market

By Max Chun

Listings of homes for sale in Santa Cruz County more than doubled compared to December as real estate agents prepare for the market’s usual spring heat-up, with Silicon Valley trends pointing to a potentially busy spring.

Facing ‘extinction vortex,’ California grants new protections to some mountain lions

By Rachel Becker / CalMatters

State fish and game officials declared mountain lions on the Central Coast and in Southern California threatened under the state’s endangered species act.

OPINION: The facts on Housing Matters day services don’t match the narrative

By David Davis

Housing Matters board chair Ray Bramson’s recent Lookout op-ed twists the narrative on homeless day services at the Santa Cruz nonprofit, writes advocate David Davis. Davis has worked at the Homeless Persons Health Project for 10 years and at the Coral Street campus for 15 years, and believes Housing Matters’ claims about reach and housing placements significantly overstate the facts. Bramson wrote his piece in response to Davis’ critical Lookout letters to the editor. Davis writes that Housing Matters’ decision to stop offering day services, including showers and mail access, at its Coral Street campus in March is short-sighted and more about optics on Coral Street than residents’ well-being.