Lookout PM: What to know about local fireworks laws; Dominican doctor departures

Welcome to Monday night’s Lookout PM.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County has some of the strictest fireworks laws in California. Here’s what you need to know ahead of July Fourth

By Caly Luna Plowman

Starting July 3 at 8 a.m., the Santa Cruz Police Department will enforce a citywide safety enhancement zone. This means fines for violations of the city’s municipal code, including the […]

‘Abandoned by Dignity’: Medical foundation changes contract structure with Dominican Hospital physicians, leading to more than a dozen departures

Dignity Health Medical Foundation’s decision to change its physician contracting structure has prompted more than a dozen doctors and advanced practice providers to work for other health systems. Patients say […]

Carmageddon: Metro board to hold public hearing for own sales tax measure for November ballot, separate from citizens’ initiative

By Max Chun

To pursue as many potential paths to a local funding source as possible, the Santa Cruz Metro board discussed moving to put a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot […]

Santa Cruz’s 418 Project aims to reinvent itself with a bold new step toward mysticism, esoterica and the avant-garde

By Wallace Baine

Under the leadership of new executive director Dennis Bartok, Santa Cruz’s long-standing arts nonprofit The 418 Project is undergoing a “rebirth” by expanding its traditional dance focus into adventurous, self-produced […]

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz; 911 dispatch image via Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1

OPINION: Santa Cruz County shares 911 and libraries. Why not housing?

By Kevin Norton

Santa Cruz County is losing its young families with children — and local activist Kevin Norton says our fractured, agency-by-agency approach to housing is why. Here, he offers up a […]

Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Newsom’s parting gift: A budget that delays California’s deep cuts to 2027

By Yue Stella Yu / CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached a final budget deal last week that largely relies on AI revenue projections and new taxes to delay social service cuts and shrink […]

Supreme Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting Trump-led challenge

By Mark Sherman / Associated Press

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, rejecting in a 5-4 decision a Republican-led attack on laws in more than half the states and […]

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