Aloha, Lookout friends. It’s Thursday, Oct. 8, and, if the forecasts are dialed in, we’ve got one more unseasonably warm day around Santa Cruz County, with highs into the upper 90s in the mountains (where a heat advisory is due to expire Thursday night) and in the 80s most everywhere else.
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I hope you’ve brought your appetite this morning because we’re leading off with Lily Belli’s tour through the best things she ate and drank in September. From a colorful, refreshing agua fresca and a sourdough smash burger from food trucks to lobster pasta on the water and a bite from a standout local baker, there’s sure to be something you’ll want to put on your menu.
Tania Ortiz spotlights the race for the District 5 seat on the Watsonville City Council. That contest pits political newcomer Angel Zuniga against first-term incumbent Casey Clark, with an unusual prize awaiting the winner: becoming mayor in 2027. It’s all part of Lookout’s free Election 2026 coverage.
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive has the floor in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, writing about the university’s ongoing efforts to build more housing and reduce its traffic impact. “Both are real challenges in Santa Cruz, and both are areas where our university has an important responsibility,” she writes. “We have spent years working to house more of our students and reduce the number of people driving solo to campus.”
In an age when virtually any song is available instantly and cheaply, a new Santa Cruz business is betting that people still want to listen to music the old-fashioned way, Wallace Baine reports — on vinyl, through headphones and without distractions. Sonivore, opening downtown this fall, will charge customers to choose an album, sit down and simply listen.
And you’ll want to stay tuned later for coverage of Wednesday night’s Capitola City Council candidate forum, hosted by Capitola Cares and the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Lookout’s Jody K. Biehl. Joe Clarke, Cami Corvin, TJ Welch, Peter Wilk and Tory Del Favero were on the spot, answering a wide-ranging set of questions about their views and priorities.
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The best things I ate and drank in Santa Cruz County in September
September is Santa Cruz County’s quiet stretch of summer, when the crowds thin out and the weather holds. It’s a good month to eat where locals eat, and four dishes worth tracking down are a sourdough smash burger piled high, lobster cacio e pepe, an agua fresca with a chamoy-coated rim, and squash bread brushed with harissa butter. Check out another mouth-watering list from Lily Belli.
OPINION: UCSC Chancellor Larive: We are doing our part to build more housing
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive writes that the university is taking community and student concerns about housing and traffic seriously and outlines UCSC’s efforts to address both persistent community concerns. In a Community Voices op-ed, she highlights new and planned projects that she says will increase student housing by more than 40% within a decade, including a two-year housing guarantee for incoming students. Larive also writes that campus vehicle trips are lower than they were 20 years ago, despite enrollment growth, and says UCSC will continue taking responsibility for its impact on the broader Santa Cruz community. Read her opinion piece here.
DAILY DIGEST
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Quite the stack of headlines, so I’ll get out of your way as you dig in. Coming later is not just more coverage of last night’s Capitola candidate forum, which you can get right in your inbox via our news alerts, but also Weekender, a cheat sheet to eating well and going out around Santa Cruz County – all free when you sign up here. Breaking news notifications are just one swell feature of the Lookout Santa Cruz app, so do yourself a favor and download that from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. And if you’re headed into the wilds of social media, follow Lookout on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and/or Threads to scoop up our mix of news and views there.
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Stay cool, keep hydrated – you’ve got this. Thank you for reading, and see you next time.
Will McCahill