We’ve made it, readers – it’s Friday, May 23, and as we head into the long Memorial Day weekend, the Santa Cruz County forecast is for mostly sunny skies (give or take some morning fog) and temperatures in the 60s and 70s right into next week.
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Hillary Ojeda is up first with a pair of stories from UC Santa Cruz, where, with a budget deficit now projected at $81 million, a faculty survey finds low morale and big worries about the future of a variety of programs – with faculty members saying the administration’s communication on it all has been lacking. Among what’s on the chopping block are the school’s German and Persian language programs, Hillary also reports.
The Capitola City Council is looking to fill the opening left by the recent resignation of Alexander Pedersen the same way it filled a vacancy earlier this year – via appointment, Christopher Neely reports. Applications open Tuesday, with a vote expected June 12.
After a 30-year career that saw him rise from police cadet to Watsonville’s first Mexican American police chief, Jorge Zamora will step down at the end of August. “It’s really changed who I am,” he told Tania Ortiz after announcing his retirement Thursday. “It’s changed my family and the trajectory of my life.”
A taste of Nice has come to Aptos, Lily Belli reports, with a pair of longtime friends opening French café Emilie and the Frenchies in the former Carried Away spot. Pastries, baked treats, sandwiches and salads bring a little bit of Provence to Soquel Drive.
The TGIF headlines also include Wallace Baine’s arts & entertainment roadmap to the long weekend ahead – let’s get after it.
UCSC faculty survey describes ‘potential extinction-level event’ for programs, low morale due to budget cuts, poor admin communication
As budget woes afflict the UC Santa Cruz campus, a high-level faculty report points a finger at poor administration communication and planning. A campus spokesman denies “administrative error” as cause for a budget deficit recently projected at $81 million. Hillary Ojeda has details.
From Nice to Aptos: Lifelong friends launch new French café Emilie and the Frenchies
Emilie and the Frenchies, a new French café in Aptos, brings the charm of Provence to the former Carried Away spot with an array of authentic French pastries, sandwiches and salads. Founded by longtime friends Mary Jane Dean and Céline Molière, the café reflects decades of shared experience and a cross-cultural partnership rooted in Santa Cruz and Nice. Get a taste from Lily Belli.
DAILY DIGEST
Plenty to chew on this Friday, and there’s still lots cooking in the Lookout kitchen. That includes more from Lily Belli in the form of Eaters Digest, served to inboxes everywhere in mere hours. 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 both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Come find us on social media if that’s your thing – Lookout is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky.
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Thanks for reading – have an excellent Friday and a safe, relaxing holiday weekend beyond. Hope to see you Tuesday morning.
Will McCahill