Tuesday, July 1, is here, Santa Cruz County friends and neighbors – a new month, to be sure, but the same weather pattern of morning clouds giving way to afternoon sun and temperatures ranging from the upper 60s to upper 80s.
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A recent appellate court ruling means you can’t hold your cellphone while driving even to check a map app – and while drivers could face stricter fines, William S. Woodhams reports, the ruling is good news to law enforcement and cycling advocates.
William was also at Santa Cruz’s London Nelson Community Center on Monday night as local Black leaders reflected on the mass protests after the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the ripple effects across the community. “Something was happening through me, not of me or by me, and I just trusted the process,” activist Joy Flynn said of that summer five years ago.
Max Chun examines the sixth and final report from the current county civil grand jury, which takes local officials to task for failing victims of human trafficking. The citizen watchdog group sees inadequate data collection, poor collaboration, minimal prosecutions and insufficient training as issues.
The civil grand jury is also the topic in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, with Jill Wynn, who served on the Santa Cruz grand jury in 2022-23, taking issue with criticism from former sheriff Jim Hart and urging current sheriff Chris Clark to continue to support community engagement.
To the headlines …
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Santa Cruz County drivers beware: So much as touching your cellphone in the car could now get you fined
Santa Cruz County drivers face stricter fines thanks to a recent court ruling against handheld cellphone use. Local law enforcement and cycling advocates say the tighter rules are welcome in a county where distracted driving is “a very big deal.” William S. Woodhams reports.
Five years on, Santa Cruz Black leaders reflect on George Floyd’s legacy of activism and art
Black leaders came together Monday to discuss the lingering aftershocks of the summer of 2020 and how those pivotal days shaped Santa Cruz’s Black community. Here’s what William S. Woodhams heard and saw.
DAILY DIGEST
A new month and plenty is cooking at Lookout, including a fresh scoop of Santa Cruz County food & drink news in the form of Lily Belli on Food, coming later Tuesday. Sign up here for that and all of Lookout’s other newsletters, plus breaking news alerts; you can also get breaking news notifications in the Lookout Santa Cruz app, available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky are where you’ll find our award-winning local coverage on social media.
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Thanks for reading – have a super Tuesday.
Will McCahill