Good morning, Lookout friends. It is Monday, April 29, and our run of nice weather looks set to continue, with plentiful sunshine and high temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s around Santa Cruz County.
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We’re taking off this Monday from Watsonville, where Christopher Neely reports on the latest chapter in a dispute centered on the auxiliary runway at Watsonville Municipal Airport. The city council narrowly voted to decommission that runway as part of an effort to develop more housing nearby, but a local pilots group is suing to block the move.
Max Chun was on hand Sunday at Santa Cruz City Hall, where activists gathered to both voice their frustrations at the recent arrest of a Black cyclist and to push for public safety reforms.
Max also has this week’s look at local traffic and transit, with our Carmageddon series covering ongoing work on the heavily travelled stretch of Soquel Drive between Santa Cruz and Aptos.
The Monday headlines also include the latest in high school sports action, plus the astonishing story of a recent local inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Right this way …
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Up in the air: Watsonville’s airport and housing clash on the runway
A new chapter has begun in the decades-old battle between growth and preservation around Watsonville Municipal Airport. A local pilots group is suing the city after the city council narrowly voted to decommission the airport’s auxiliary runway. Christopher Neely gives us the overview.
In wake of SCPD cyclist arrest, speakers voice frustrations, push for public safety reforms in community forum
Local activists, social justice organizations and about 30 community members gathered Sunday in front of Santa Cruz City Hall to connect and begin discussing ways to reimagine public safety in the city in response to community complaints regarding the use of excessive force by Santa Cruz police officers in their arrest of a Black cyclist earlier this month. More here from Max Chun.
DAILY DIGEST
A busy start to the week, to be sure, and there’s more on the way from Lookout. Among what’s still on the Monday menu is In the Public Interest, Christopher Neely’s weekly roundup of local politics and policy. You can get that and all of Lookout’s other newsletters, plus breaking news alerts via email and text, by signing up right here. You can also keep up with our coverage of Santa Cruz County news and views on social media, where Lookout is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads.
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Now, into the Monday fray!
Will McCahill