A chilly hello, readers. It is Friday, Jan. 9, and sunny skies are again the order of the day around Santa Cruz County, with a slight warming trend kicking in that should see highs around 60 on Friday and 70 by the middle of next week.
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About 100 residents gathered at Watsonville’s downtown plaza Thursday night to remember Renee Nicole Good, who was killed Wednesday in Minneapolis by a federal immigration enforcement agent. “Who would’ve thought that a mother, simply for being in a certain place, would get shot by ICE?”, one told Tania Ortiz.
A report by three members of the Santa Cruz City Council recommends that the city terminate its contract with a company that provides automated license plate-reading cameras, Max Chun reports. The council will consider ending that deal with Flock Safety at its Tuesday meeting.
With Watsonville’s long-awaited “tiny village” homeless shelter set to welcome residents Monday, Tania Ortiz spoke with Connie Moreno, who will be among the first to move in after a long stint on the nearby Pajaro River levee. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “It’s going to get even better, so that’s a good thing.”
Max Chun caught up with Donna Lind, who has just started her fourth term as Scotts Valley’s mayor and who has served the city in various roles for nearly 60 years. Scotts Valley faces major changes, largely in the form of state-mandated growth, and Lind and her councilmember colleagues say she is well-suited to guide the city through the coming challenges.
Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud took to the streets of downtown Santa Cruz to ask what people are looking forward to in 2026, and what they’re worried about. The answers varied – but housing was a consistent theme.
The Friday headlines also include Hillary Ojeda’s rundown of what Watsonville residents were reading in 2025 – shall we?
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Residents gather in Watsonville to remember life of woman killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis
About 100 people gathered in Watsonville on Thursday evening to remember Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman shot and killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Tania Ortiz was on hand.
Santa Cruz City Council to consider ending Flock Safety contract at Tuesday meeting
The Santa Cruz City Council will weigh pulling out of its contract with Flock Safety at its Tuesday meeting after several recent data breaches and sustained community pushback about the use of the company’s automatic license plate readers. Max Chun reports.
DAILY DIGEST
Lookout is rolling into the weekend, and included in our continuing local coverage is a fresh serving of Santa Cruz County food & drink in the form of Lily Belli’s Eaters Digest – one of the many free newsletters and breaking news alerts you can sign up for here. You can get breaking news notifications, games and more via the Lookout Santa Cruz app, available for free in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and follow Lookout on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and/or Threads to get more protein in your social media diet.
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Thank you for reading – here’s to a smooth Friday for us all, and a safe, relaxing weekend beyond.
Will McCahill