Ahoy, mateys. It is Thursday, May 8, and the warming trend continues for Santa Cruz County – we’re expecting mid-80s in the mountains today, and low 90s tomorrow.
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Hillary Ojeda was on hand Wednesday night for another heated meeting of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing board, which in a 4-2 vote rejected a move to censure trustee Gabe Medina. The censure resolution had cited inflammatory remarks and disruptive behavior by Medina.
Hillary also has a look at how Cabrillo College is tackling what’s estimated to be a $5.5 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 academic year, with president Matt Wetstein saying the school is offering incentives for early retirement and eliminating vacant positions, among other measures, amid declining enrollment.
Christopher Neely caught up with state Assemblymember Dawn Addis, whose district includes portions of Santa Cruz County, to discuss her legislative agenda. A big piece of that, Addis says, is a bill that would charge oil companies for climate damages.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is ramping up for summer, and Wallace Baine – whose Weekender newsletter is coming later – brings word of a new feature this year: a computer-choreographed drone light show.
Ocean activist Dan Haifley returns to Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, writing about all that’s under threat as the Trump administration looks to kneecap the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with enormous budget cuts – and urging readers to speak up to protect an agency crucial to life on the Central Coast.
And in case you missed it yesterday, longtime Santa Cruz resident Cliona Ward is out of federal immigration detention – that story and more coming up below among the day’s headlines.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District board rejects censure of trustee Gabe Medina
In a 4-2 vote Wednesday night, Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustees rejected a resolution to censure trustee Gabe Medina over inflammatory remarks and previous behavior. Hillary Ojeda was on hand.
Cabrillo College addressing estimated $5.5 million budget deficit, monitoring tariff impacts on student housing project
Cabrillo College President Matt Wetstein told Lookout on Wednesday how the school plans to address an estimated $5.5 million budget deficit. He said the deficit is “largely driven by our need to get smaller” after multiple years of shrinking enrollment. Details here.
DAILY DIGEST
We’re going to keep a busy Thursday rolling here at Lookout, with (among other things) Wallace Baine back presently with his recommendation-packed stroll through Santa Cruz County’s bustling arts & entertainment scene. Weekender hits inboxes in a few hours, and that’s just one of the many newsletters and breaking news alerts I urge you to check out and sign up for here. Take our award-winning local coverage in your pocket/purse/pannier wherever Thursday takes you by downloading the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store (we offer breaking news notifications there, too). And if social media is your jam, yep, we’re there, too: Follow Lookout on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and/or Bluesky.
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Thank you very much for reading – tell a friend!
Will McCahill