Hello there, friends and neighbors. Thursday, March 19, is here and the heat wave continues for Santa Cruz County, with sunny skies and temperatures again nearing 100 in the mountains and close to 90 at our beaches amid a National Weather Service heat advisory.
I WANT TO … Become a Lookout member | Download the Lookout app | Browse latest news | Get other Lookout newsletters | Solve a puzzle | Find local events | Advertise
Now that the Capitola City Council has opened the door to redeveloping the Capitola Mall with zoning changes, Max Chun reports on how the site fits into the city’s plans to keep up with state mandates on housing growth. Those plans center on the busy 41st Avenue corridor.
From Capitola Village, Lily Belli checks in with the owners of the pair of restaurants damaged in a fatal fire last week. The owners of Mijo’s Taqueria and Geisha Japanese Restaurant & Tea House are still waiting for answers on the extent of the damage and fear it could be at least a year before they’re back up and running.
Amid a flurry of allegations of sexual abuse against late labor leader César Chávez – including from United Farm Workers union co-founder Dolores Huerta – a Watsonville nonprofit is changing the name of an award it’s set to present next week, Tania Ortiz reports. Friends of Watsonville Parks and Community Services will now be giving out the Watsonville Community Impact Awards.
Tania also previews a weekend cleanup event focused on the health of the San Lorenzo River watershed, and a full slate of Thursday headlines includes news about this year’s Wharf to Wharf route and Community Voices opinion on the fallout of home insurance non-renewals for families and communities. Read on, won’t you?
Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here to receive Morning Lookout in your inbox every weekday.
With Capitola Mall site rezoned, city aims to focus state-mandated growth on 41st Avenue corridor
Once redeveloped, the Capitola Mall is expected to take care of a large number of state-mandated housing units that the City of Capitola must plan for by 2031. Moving forward, the city seeks to center development on the 41st Avenue corridor, which officials say holds the best opportunities for building. Max Chun looks ahead.
Mijo’s, Geisha face long road to recovery after deadly Capitola fire
A week after a deadly Capitola Village fire damaged their building, the owners of Mijo’s Taqueria and Geisha Japanese Restaurant are still waiting on insurance assessments and remain unable to access their red-tagged spaces. With repairs likely to take up to a year, they’re weighing next steps while receiving an outpouring of community support, including a sold-out fundraiser. Lily Belli has the update.
DAILY DIGEST
A newsy Thursday morning, and plenty more is on the way from Lookout. For those of you peeking ahead, our cheat sheet to eating well and going out around Santa Cruz County will be winging its way to inboxes in mere hours, and Weekender is just one of the many free newsletters and breaking news alerts you can sign up for here. Download the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to access all of our coverage in one convenient smartphone stop, and leaven your social media diet with our mix of local news and views by following Lookout on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
Our content isn’t possible without community support, so if you’re not already, please consider becoming a Lookout member.
Thank you for reading – let’s all have a good Thursday.
Will McCahill