What’s up, friends and neighbors? It is Thursday, June 25, and Santa Cruz County is, as usual for this time of year, off to a cloudy start, with sunshine to follow as the day goes on and temperatures from the 60s to the 80s.
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The local arts community showed up in force Wednesday as county supervisors discussed big cuts as part of their next budget, with Tania Ortiz reporting that the board pushed a vote to next week and directed staff to come up with a plan that maintains funding to Arts Council Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History that’s been on the chopping block. They also approved a creative multidepartment fix to close $1.1 million gap in the public defender budget.
Kevin Painchaud was at Soquel High School on Wednesday as local first responders went through the county’s annual training for a mass-casualty event. The exercise simulates an active shooter on a school campus, requiring officers to locate and stop a threat while rescue teams enter the scene to triage and evacuate victims.
In Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, Santa Cruz Works co-founder Doug Erickson waxes optimistic about the chances for a Central Coast economic boom centered on an advanced aviation ecosystem built around drones, electric aircraft and the workforce needed to operate them. A recent visit by a Dutch delegation to see the work of a consortium that includes Joby Aviation and UC Santa Cruz is a great sign for what’s brewing here, he writes.
Let’s get to the headlines.
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Santa Cruz County arts community mourns ‘life without color’ in protest of proposed budget cuts
Following a nearly two-hour discussion and after hearing from the county’s arts community Wednesday, Santa Cruz County supervisors delayed their approval of the parks department budget, which included a proposed cut in arts funding to local organizations. Tania Ortiz has the latest.
Preparing for the unthinkable: Local first responders drill at Soquel High for mass-casualty incident
Law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel are participating in Santa Cruz County’s five-day active-shooter response training this week at Soquel High School. The annual exercise, hosted by the sheriff’s office, brings together about 150 officers and more than 80 firefighters to practice coordinated response to a simulated mass-casualty incident. Kevin Painchaud was on hand.
DAILY DIGEST
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Your Thursday awaits – get on out there!
Will McCahill