Greetings! Tuesday, Dec. 16, has arrived, and it’s bringing a shift in the weather pattern for Santa Cruz County – some patchy fog giving way to partly sunny skies before rain arrives in the overnight hours (about which more in a sec).
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“We might have all felt a little nervous doing this, but we’re not going to retreat.” That was how Rabbi Paula Marcus described a Hanukkah gathering at Santa Cruz City Hall on Sunday, just hours after an attack at an Australian beach killed 16 and injured dozens more. Despite the tragedy at Bondi Beach, Marcus tells Wallace Baine that her Temple Beth El in Aptos will continue with its holiday celebrations.
Glenwood Drive north of Scotts Valley is getting some emergency repairs after a 30-foot section of embankment failed during a November storm, Max Chun reports. Work is expected to start next week and will last four weeks if weather permits.
About the incoming weather, a National Weather Service meteorologist tells Ashley Palma-Jimenez that the storm systems headed our way between now and the weekend will be weak and generally beneficial. “We don’t really have any flooding concerns given that we just had three weeks of dry weather, so our soils are fairly dry right now and can absorb more water,” Rachel Kennedy said.
And in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, retired Santa Cruz physician Jeoffry B. Gordon writes that a shift on vaccines under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. undermines trust, weakens community protection and leaves families more vulnerable to preventable disease. He takes solace in a recent California effort to provide fact-based guidance and urges families to rely on approved vaccines heading into 2026.
To the headlines …
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‘We’re not going to retreat’: Local rabbi reflects on the Bondi Beach shooting
Local celebrants of Hanukkah gathered on Sunday night in downtown Santa Cruz for the first night of the joyous Jewish holiday. But their minds were on the senseless killing of Hanukkah celebrants half a world away, in Sydney, Australia. Wallace Baine has more.
Storm damage shuts down lane of Glenwood Drive in Scotts Valley for four weeks
The City of Scotts Valley is preparing to begin work on Glenwood Drive, which sustained significant storm damage in mid-November. The emergency repair work is expected to start next week and will last four weeks if weather permits. Details here from Max Chun.
DAILY DIGEST
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Have a super Tuesday!
Will McCahill