Good morning! It is Wednesday, Nov. 5, and the rain has arrived around Santa Cruz County. It’s expected to last into the evening; there’s a wind advisory until 4 p.m. for the Santa Cruz Mountains, with gusts of 45 mph possible, and a coastal flood advisory in effect into Saturday with tides higher than normal.
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The vote count is underway for the dueling affordable housing ballot initiatives in the city of Santa Cruz, with Measure C, backed by housing advocates and city officials, on track for a narrow victory with 52.5% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning, Max Chun reports. The realtor-backed Measure B had earned only about 12% of votes counted. Countywide, California redistricting initiative Proposition 50 had massive support at over 77%, and with about 64% of the vote in the most recent statewide tallies, outlets including the Associated Press have declared a victory for Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The owners of downtown Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Pizza, with roots in the tech industry, are aiming to build a local hub for artificial intelligence development, Jessica M. Pasko reports. That’s the story behind Pie Fi, now open around the corner from the Pacific Avenue pizzeria. You’ll also find Jessica’s weekly survey of Santa Cruz County business news, notes and numbers among the headlines below.
We’re continuing to unveil the winners and runners-up on the best-in-county Lookout List – scroll on to see how readers voted in the Community & Events category.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency over food insecurity Tuesday, Hillary Ojeda reports, and approved a $500,000 donation to Second Harvest Food Bank as federal food aid delays from the ongoing government shutdown leave thousands without assistance. Contributions from the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville and from other local nonprofits and agencies will boost that to more than $1 million.
The Wednesday headlines also include an altercation in a downtown Santa Cruz garage, Cabrillo College seeking nominations for the vacancy on its governing board and the latest in local food & drink from Lily Belli – onward.
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Election 2025: Measure C takes slim lead in dueling Santa Cruz affordable housing plans
Measure C, an affordable housing measure backed by housing advocates and Santa Cruz officials, was narrowly winning its race as of early Wednesday, with about 52.5% of the vote. Measure B, a competing measure sponsored by local realtors, was poised for defeat, earning only about 12% of votes. Here’s more from Max Chun and Kevin Painchaud.
➤ Election results in charts, news, notes and Lookout’s past coverage
➤ California voters approve Prop 50, redrawing congressional maps to favor Democrats
With Pie Fi, Pleasure Pizza owners seek to build local hub for AI development
Having navigated the restaurant business after buying Pleasure Pizza in 2023, Sol and Erica Lipman opened Pie Fi around the corner in downtown Santa Cruz, a physical location for working, learning and meeting, a digital platform for building artificial intelligence projects and an accelerator program all in one. Jessica M. Pasko has the story.
DAILY DIGEST
Plenty to sort through, so have at it. And whatever Wednesday brings, make sure you’re staying current with our award-winning local coverage – download the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store., sign up for free here for breaking news alerts and for all of our other newsletters (coming Thursday, for instance, is Wallace Baine’s arts-and-entertainment-focused Weekender). Lookout is of course on social media, so follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky for our latest there.
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Please be safe out on those wet roads – turn on your lights if you’re using your windshield wipers! – and thanks for reading.
Will McCahill