Good morning, one and all. It’s Monday, Oct. 5, and the warm weather continues for Santa Cruz County, with upper 90s forecast in the mountains, which are under a heat advisory until Wednesday night, and 80s closer to the bay.
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Max Chun has a pair of stories to kick off our workweek. The first, part of Lookout’s free Election 2026 coverage, fact-checks disputed claims about the candidates in Santa Cruz’s race for mayor, where both Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills say voters have been told things about their records that aren’t true.
Max also has the latest from a property dispute along the rail line in Aptos Village, where, after a number of delays and court dates, several Aptos Village property owners and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission are headed to court later this month.
Alia Yee Noll takes us inside the current exhibition at Cabrillo Gallery, where “LatinXperiencia 2026: La Resiliencia” celebrates the resilience of the Latino community through ceramics, paintings and mixed media work. The show runs until Oct. 27.
Before the Monday headlines, an invitation: The Lookout team is popping up in Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz for a “mobile newsroom” Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and we want to hear from you. Tell us what you’ve enjoyed, what matters most to you and how we can improve. Need help logging in, have questions about your membership or want to learn more about Lookout? All are welcome to come and chat with our team. Questions? Email jamie@lookoutlocal.com.
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Santa Cruz mayor race: We fact-checked two disputed claims about Ami Chen Mills and Ryan Coonerty
A contentious, competitive race for Santa Cruz mayor has included a number of claims that both candidates have consistently rejected – most notably, that Ami Chen Mills wants to cancel a $500,000 loan from the city to Joby Aviation and that Ryan Coonerty supports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Here’s more from Max Chun.
Carmageddon: Aptos Village property dispute over rail trail heads to trial Oct. 19
A property dispute between a number of Aptos Village property owners and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is slated to head to trial on Oct. 19. The dispute is centered on which entity owns a portion of the land along the rail line. Read more here.
DAILY DIGEST
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Here’s to a smooth Monday all around, and thank you for reading.
Will McCahill