Hello there, Lookout friends. It is Tuesday, Sept. 9 – a little muggy around Santa Cruz County, with slight chances of showers persisting into late morning before the sun peeks out a bit; highs will range from the upper 60s to around 80 in the mountains.
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Lily Belli takes us inside La Bahia Hotel & Spa, where the Pearl bar and more casual Low Tide restaurant are now open for business. The cocktails and small plates at Pearl are in line with the luxury beachfront development’s high expectations, but Low Tide has some kinks it could still work out, she writes.
Christopher Neely has more details on the sudden closure of Mental Health Client Action Network, a peer-run Santa Cruz refuge for those facing mental health challenges. Two employees said they hadn’t been paid since mid-July before being abruptly furloughed in late August, even after MHCAN convinced county supervisors to extend funding earlier this year.
The Trump administration’s new guidelines on COVID boosters are creating hurdles for residents interested in getting the latest shot, Max Chun reports. “I think that’s part of the federal strategy. These actions are serving to confuse people to be unsure about whether they can get vaccines in the community,” the county’s top health officer said. “And unfortunately, communities may suffer from it.”
Pajaro Valley Unified School District‘s governing board has a packed slate when it meets Wednesday, and Hillary Ojeda has a preview. Among what’s on the agenda: a new chief business officer, nearly half a million dollars of unspent arts funding and the latest trends in attendance, academic performance and graduation rates.
And in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, activist Kevin Norton draws a connection between UC Santa Cruz students reporting the worst mental health of any University of California campus and our region’s brutal housing market. “It’s a cloud that hangs over everyone’s heads,” one student told him. “If you’re not talking about it, you’re thinking about it.”
To the Tuesday headlines …
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La Bahia’s Pearl bar shines, but Low Tide restaurant falls short of lofty expectations
La Bahia Hotel & Spa, Santa Cruz’s long-awaited luxury hotel, opened this week with great fanfare. But while the glittering Pearl lobby bar dazzles with whimsical cocktails and stylish small plates, Low Tide’s opening menu leans too heavily on familiar fare, falling short of the high expectations. Here’s what Lily Belli found.
A key Santa Cruz mental health service closed amid funding turmoil and months of missed paychecks
After winning county funding this summer, Santa Cruz’s Mental Health Client Action Network abruptly closed, leaving unpaid staff in crisis as leaders cite financial turmoil, leadership struggles and stalled reimbursements. Christopher Neely reports.
DAILY DIGEST
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Have a super Tuesday!
Will McCahill