What’s shakin’, Lookout friends? It is Monday, May 12, and we’ll start the workweek around Santa Cruz County with a slight chance of morning sprinkles, then sunnier by afternoon with temperatures warming into the 60s.
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Max Chun starts us off with a look at challenging times for housing developers, who say supply chain issues, higher construction costs and broader economic uncertainty are slowing current projects and prompting pauses on some in the pipeline.
Max also has his weekly Carmageddon feature, focusing this Monday on the season of local roadwork as the county aims to repair and rehabilitate roads before the winter.
Hillary Ojeda introduces us to Santa Cruz County’s current and former youth poet laureates, San Lorenzo Valley High School junior Finn Maxwell and Pacific Collegiate School senior Dina Lusztig Noyes. “The best part about writing is the community part – when you’re engaging with other people about it,” said Maxwell. “I like the fact that there’s a cohort, and it’s not just like one person, like a cohort of people that you work with.”
The Monday headlines also include a story from Wallace Baine on whether Santa Cruz should be tapping more into the 1987 cult classic “The Lost Boys” to drive tourism – could a vampire cafe become a downtown hit? You’ll find that and more on the other side of this view through the lens of Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud.
Photo of the day
Santa Cruz Roller Derby’s Boardwalk Bombshells faced off against the San Francisco Rolling Dead on Saturday night for a high-energy bout at the Civic Auditorium. The match highlighted the growing popularity of roller derby in Santa Cruz, where the nonprofit, all-gender inclusive league has been entertaining local fans since 2009.
As costs soar and investors hesitate, some Santa Cruz County housing projects remain in limbo
A slowdown in groundbreaking for major housing developments around Santa Cruz County can likely be attributed to supply chain issues and rising interest rates on construction loans, rather than solely economic uncertainty at the federal level — although that is a factor, too. Developers and planners continue to grapple with a rapidly shifting economy as they prepare for thousands of new residents. Max Chun reports.
Santa Cruz County youth poet laureates create community through shared love of poetry
San Lorenzo Valley High School junior Finn Maxwell, 16, and Dina Lusztig Noyes, 18, a senior at Pacific Collegiate School, told Lookout about what they love most about Santa Cruz County’s youth poet laureate program. They’re the first two to win the distinction. Here’s more from Hillary Ojeda.
DAILY DIGEST
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Thanks for reading – here’s to a smooth Monday all around.
Will McCahill