Good morning, one and all. It’s Monday, Feb. 23, and the forecast is for a partly sunny day around Santa Cruz County, with temperatures warming into the upper 60s, before chances of rain return overnight into Tuesday.
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UC Santa Cruz administrators are exploring whether to make changes to the school’s residential college system, Hillary Ojeda reports, which its founders based on Oxford and Cambridge universities when they established the campus in 1965. Interim Campus Provost Paul Koch is leading the project, saying after years of campus growth and change, he wanted to have a “large-scale faculty-wide conversation” to look at ways to update the college system.
Max Chun has the latest traffic-and-transit-focused edition of Carmageddon, this week leading with long-term plans for Highway 17, that crucial artery connecting Santa Cruz County to the wider San Francisco Bay Area. Safety, congestion relief and climate resiliency top the priorities list.
A new concert series pairs Santa Cruz County musicians with iconic artists such as Lol Tolhurst of The Cure and David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets for collaboration, mentorship and a shared stage, and Jana Marcus has an overview of Event Santa Cruz’s “Legends: Live and Local.”
The Monday headlines also include Cassidy Beach’s story on a project that’s documenting the nature of Elkhorn Slough and which “uncovers a secret life that most of us never get to see” – onward we go.
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UCSC explores making changes to its unique college system model
UC Santa Cruz administrators are exploring potential changes to the campus’ distinctive residential college system — modeled after Oxford and Cambridge universities — as part of a yearlong review aimed at evaluating how to ensure the colleges best serve students. Hillary Ojeda has details.
Carmageddon: Highway 17 corridor plan prioritizes congestion relief, safety and climate resiliency
Caltrans and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission are planning for the future of Highway 17. Officials discussed their priorities for the corridor — safety, congestion relief and climate resiliency — during a recent presentation, including expanding the 17 Express bus route to Highway 85 in Santa Clara County. Max Chun has the latest in local traffic and transit.
DAILY DIGEST
What else will Monday bring from Lookout? One thing I can tell you for sure is a look around Santa Cruz County politics and policy in the form of In the Public Interest, one of the many free newsletters and breaking news alerts you should sign up for here. Get all of our award-winning local coverage on your smartphone by downloading the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and keep track of it all on social media by following Lookout on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and/or Threads.
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Here’s to a smooth Monday – thanks for reading.
Will McCahill