Welcome, everyone, to Friday, June 6 – another clouds-to-sun day around Santa Cruz County, with high temps from the 60s to the 80s. Repeat through the weekend.
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The City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission took up the controversial downtown Clocktower Center project Thursday night, Christopher Neely reports, and while its unanimous approval clears the way for construction, the commission rejected developer Workbench’s request for more balcony space than regulations allow – meaning an appeal to the city council or a lawsuit could be next.
Organizers behind the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Santa Cruz City Hall are hosting a repainting of the public art piece on Saturday, Max Chun reports, with proceeds from the event going toward the recovery of Thairie Ritchie, a local activist who set himself on fire while standing atop the mural on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Westside’s Pacific Collegiate School is getting a new leader, Hillary Ojeda reports, with Chris Guyer, a seasoned administrator from Riverside Unified School District, coming north to replace Maria Reitano next month as head of school. Reitano is moving to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education.
Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section is the forum for a call from local environmental activists for the Santa Cruz City Council to ban the sale of filtered tobacco products at its meeting Tuesday. Katie Thompson, Tracey Weiss and Dan Haifley outline the need to protect our watersheds, beaches and ocean from the pollution that comes from cigarette butts.
The Friday headlines also include an upcoming full closure of the Murray Street Bridge and Wallace Baine’s recommendation-packed guide to the weekend ahead – let’s go.
Vote clears way for Clocktower Center construction – but balcony disagreement could spell trouble
The Santa Cruz Planning Commission unanimously approved the downtown Clocktower Center project Thursday, but its rejection of developer Workbench’s request for more balcony space on lower floors opened the door to litigation. Christopher Neely reports.
Organizers to repaint Santa Cruz Black Lives Matter mural in fundraiser for Thairie Ritchie
A repainting event for the Black Lives Matter mural in front of Santa Cruz City Hall will take place on Saturday, a reminder of both the resilience of the racial justice movement and to honor and support prominent community activist Thairie Ritchie, who set himself on fire standing on the mural on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Details here from Max Chun.
DAILY DIGEST
TGIF indeed, and there’s more coming from Lookout between here and the weekend. That includes a helping of Santa Cruz County food & drink from Lily Belli, in the form of her Eaters Digest. That’s among the many newsletters you can sign up for here, along with breaking news alerts; you can also opt into breaking news notifications in the Lookout Santa Cruz app, available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky are where you can connect with Lookout to find our award-winning local coverage on social media.
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A most excellent Friday to you all, and a safe, relaxing weekend beyond – thanks for reading.
Will McCahill