Good morning! It’s Monday, June 1, and plentiful sunshine is the forecast for Santa Cruz County, with highs nearing 90 in the mountains, around 70 at the beach.
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Lily Belli starts us off with the story of Pajaro Valley apple farmers reckoning with a seismic shift – the decision by their biggest buyer, Martinelli’s, to stop renewing some contracts with growers. “They claim it’s quality,” one farmer said of Martinelli’s move, “but it’s apparent that they don’t want to pay for local fruit if they don’t have to.”
With the school year winding down, Hillary Ojeda profiles a Pajaro Valley High student one teacher calls “the spirit of the school.” Jonathan Escobar has just finished up being class president, organizer and emcee of school rallies and a competitive cheerleader on the Watsonville school’s squad, among other things, and is off to UC Davis this fall.
Another full closure of the Murray Street Bridge is coming, Max Chun reports in his latest Carmageddon column. Scheduled to last only a couple months, this closure could start as soon as June 10.
The Monday headlines also include the first part of Jana Marcus’ series on the cult classic movie “The Lost Boys” and its impact on and enduring lure in Santa Cruz. Away we go.
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As Martinelli’s cancels contracts, Watsonville apple farmers lose their biggest buyer – and a way of life
For decades, Pajaro Valley apple farmers relied on S. Martinelli & Co. as their primary — and often only — buyer, but the company’s decision to stop renewing some grower contracts has left longtime orchardists scrambling for alternatives and questioning the future of local apple farming. As multigenerational families tear out orchards and lease land to berry growers, many fear the region is losing not only a historic industry, but also the infrastructure and cultural legacy that sustained it for more than a century. Here’s the story from Lily Belli.
Pajaro Valley High’s ‘spirit of the school’ graduates after four years of leadership
Pajaro Valley High School senior Jonathan Escobar, once a shy student who faced bullying in middle school, will graduate this week after four years as a prominent campus leader, cheerleader and class president. This fall, he’s going to UC Davis to study biology or political science. Read more from Hillary Ojeda.
DAILY DIGEST
A busy start to a new month – and there’s plenty more to come from Lookout that you’ll want to stay tuned for, including our free Election 2026 coverage. Get full access to that and all of our content by downloading the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and make sure you opt in to breaking news notifications. Sign up here for breaking news alerts via email and for all of our other newsletters – all free. You can also get our mix of local news and views by following Lookout on social media – we’re staked out on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
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Thank you for reading – here’s to getting June off to a great start.
Will McCahill