Greetings, Lookout friends. It’s Tuesday, Jan. 20, forecast to be a mostly sunny one around Santa Cruz County, with high temperatures from the mid-60s to around 70 in some mountain locales.
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Lily Belli starts us off with the spate of encounters across Northern California and the Central Coast with poisonous death cap mushrooms. There have been two hospitalizations in Santa Cruz County among more than 30 people statewide sickened after eating foraged fungi.
Max Chun delivers his Carmageddon column, this week examining what it means for the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission to be the “common carrier” on the county’s branch rail line after the RTC moved to end its contract with a Minnesota-based company.
Jana Marcus returns with her latest local theater review, giving her take on “A” Night of the ongoing “8 Tens @ 8” short plays festival at Santa Cruz County Actors’ Theatre – a crowd-pleasing reminder of why this beloved festival has thrived for three decades.
The day’s headlines also include the sheriff’s office investigating a gun and ammunition found at Aptos High School and Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day March in downtown Santa Cruz, but before we dive in, a message from Jamie Garfield, Lookout’s director of student and community engagement:
Lookout Santa Cruz is proud to introduce the next chapter of our Lookout in the Classroom program: Lookout for Teachers, giving local middle and high school educators free, unlimited access to Lookout Santa Cruz’s independent, fact-based local journalism. Beyond full access to our reporting, teachers receive a weekly stream of curated current events paired with classroom-ready resources — quizzes, lesson guides, discussion prompts and media literacy activities aligned to real curricula. Read more here.
We have tested this program for a few years, but now, thanks to our donors and Changemaker Members, we are now able to publicly provide free memberships for 450 middle school and high school teachers. Sign-ups are first come, first served, and they are going fast. So share this information with a secondary teacher in your life.
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Poisonous death cap mushrooms kill three, sicken dozens on Central Coast, including two in Santa Cruz County
Toxic death cap mushrooms have sickened more than 30 people and killed three across coastal Northern California, but Santa Cruz County has seen relatively few cases despite its strong foraging culture. Local experts and public health officials are urging residents to avoid wild mushrooms or seek proper education. They warn that dangerous look-alikes are common and that identification apps can be unreliable. Details here from Lily Belli.
Carmageddon: What is a common carrier and what changes for RTC if and when it takes on that role for rail line?
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission moved to boot the operator of part of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line and take on the “common carrier” role itself. This is mostly an administrative and bureaucratic change, but has to happen for the passenger rail or a trail over the tracks to happen. Max Chun breaks it down.
DAILY DIGEST
As we embark on an abbreviated workweek, make sure you’re staying on top of Lookout’s local coverage. Download the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and sign up here for breaking news alerts and for all of our other newsletters – all free, and including the latest in local food & drink via Lily Belli on Food, coming later Tuesday. You’ll also find Lookout on social media – give us a follow on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and/or Threads.
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Have a super Tuesday – thanks for reading!
Will McCahill