Good morning! It’s Monday, Nov. 24, and the Santa Cruz County forecast is a pleasant one indeed, with sunny skies and temperatures headed into the 60s.
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Max Chun’s weekly Carmageddon column starts us off, with Max reporting that Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and District 1 County Supervisor Manu Koenig, who’ve long held differing opinions on local passenger rail, say they’ve reached a “peace deal” that will keep options open for both rail and trail. With major state funding at risk, the plan would use bureaucratic maneuvers to build some stretches of trail on top of the existing tracks.
UC Santa Cruz will extend its faculty hiring slowdown as it works to close an $80 million budget gap, Hillary Ojeda reports, with school officials telling faculty members last week that the university will hire five professors this year and none next year.
Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation is accusing one of its main competitors of corporate espionage, Jessica M. Pasko reports, with the electric taxi company claiming in a lawsuit filed last week that Archer Aviation hired away a Joby employee and used confidential information from him to secure a deal with a real estate developer.
And Lily Belli’s got the story of Santa Cruz Mushrooms, a boutique farm that’s growing restaurant-quality fungi in Chris and Tiffany Phillips’ former shower door shop in Live Oak. Instead of joining a gym to boost his weight-loss efforts, Chris Phillips chose getting out into the woods to forage for mushrooms, and a business was born.
Let’s check out all the Monday headlines.
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Carmageddon: Fred Keeley and Manu Koenig believe they’ve found a ‘peace deal’ on rail and trail
Facing major cost overruns on a stretch of the Coastal Rail Trail and the risk of losing millions in state funding for the project, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley and District 1 County Supervisor Manu Koenig believe they have found a way to move the trail along faster while continuing work on a passenger rail service. Details here from Max Chun.
Santa Cruz Mushrooms blooms in Live Oak, offering rare varieties and a peek behind the curtain
Chris and Tiffany Phillips have transformed their former shower door shop in Live Oak into Santa Cruz Mushrooms, a boutique indoor farm where they grow ultra-fresh culinary fungi. After a personal health journey that sparked Chris’ passion, and a year of growth fueled by restaurant demand, the couple is preparing to expand production next year. Lily Belli takes us inside.
DAILY DIGEST
There’s more to come from Lookout as we embark upon Thanksgiving week, not the least of which will be another edition of In the Public Interest, our weekly survey of Santa Cruz County politics & policy – just one of the many free newsletters and breaking news alerts you can sign up for here. You can take all of our award-winning local coverage along with you by downloading the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and if you’re on social media, stay current there by following Lookout on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky.
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Have a great Monday – thanks for reading.
Will McCahill