Good morning, one and all. It is Wednesday, June 4, and you know the weather drill this time of year, Santa Cruz County: clouds in the morning, sun later, temperatures ranging from the 60s to the 80s.
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With Santa Cruz County supervisors slated to vote next week on a budget for the next fiscal year, they haven’t yet heard any alternatives to a plan that would bring big layoffs and cuts to the county’s health services agency, Christopher Neely reports – and on Tuesday directed staff to come up with some.
Three more local Rite Aid locations are set to close, Jessica M. Pasko reports in her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business, as the pharmacy chain declares bankruptcy for the second time.
With the opening of Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s summer run not far off, Wallace Baine checks in with artistic director Charles Pasternak, whose mantra “every year, do something that scares me” sees the company adding a musical to an ambitious season. (Wallace, by the way, kicks off another summer of Lookout Trivia Nights at Abbott Square on Wednesday evening, and you can sign up for free here.)
And with environmental activist Erin Brockovich holding a news conference later Wednesday in Moss Landing to talk about a lawsuit filed in the wake of January’s battery storage fire, Tania Ortiz reports that Pacific Gas & Electric is delaying the reopening of its own neighboring facility after finding equipment malfunctions.
To the headlines!
As budget clock ticks, still no plan B to Santa Cruz County’s proposed layoffs and health service cuts
With a final budget vote looming for Santa Cruz County supervisors, the only health services funding proposal on the table so far is the original, which includes 12 layoffs as part of the elimination of more than 74 full-time positions, service reductions and closure of medical facilities. Christopher Neely breaks it down.
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Pharmacy closures, funding for ex-Tesla exec’s Scotts Valley-based company, soda tax hurdles
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on three more Rite Aid locations shutting down and a $38 million funding round for Scotts Valley’s Heron Power Electronics Company, plus numbers, names and dates to know. Find it all here.
DAILY DIGEST
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Thank you for reading – now get out and slay whatever Wednesday sends your way.
Will McCahill