What’s cooking, Lookout friends? It is Thursday, Sept. 4, and the forecast for Santa Cruz County is a pleasant, familiar one – morning clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies and temperatures ranging from the upper 60s closer to the water to around 90 in the mountains.
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Unionization efforts by Verve Coffee Roasters employees are just the latest local push into labor organizing, Max Chun reports. That lines up with what UC Santa Cruz researchers have heard from younger workers, who say they’re focused on collective benefits rather than individual ones.
Jessica M. Pasko has the story of Ember Flash Aerospace, a Boulder Creek startup born in the aftermath of 2020’s CZU Lightning Complex fire. Using sensors and drones powered by artificial intelligence, the company is building a wildfire detection system that could transform how communities respond to fire threats.
Efforts to fortify Capitola’s Cliff Drive against storms and sea-level rise will cost far more than expected, Christopher Neely reports – and the new estimate of $80 million means the work will take years, with funding uncertain.
The rail and trail are again the topic in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, with Soquel resident Peter Gibson urging county residents to look beyond costs and see rail as a once-in-a-generation investment in equity and climate resilience.
Before the Thursday headlines, this snapshot:
Photo of the day
Beer Wolves, the team of Susan Schwartz, David Kranz, Autumn Andra, Jim Bull, Chris Lynnes and Pat Czapp, scored another victory Wednesday night at the summer’s final Lookout Trivia Night, hosted by Wallace Baine at Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz.
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In high-cost Santa Cruz County, a generation of young workers increasingly turns to unions
Employees at three Verve Coffee Roasters cafés are the latest in a surge of union drives happening across Santa Cruz County in recent years. Young local workers once viewed service jobs as temporary steppingstones. Now, more than 80% told UC Santa Cruz researchers that they are open to unionizing, motivated by both economic pressures and a broader vision of workplace democracy. Read the story from Max Chun.
A Boulder Creek tech startup is using drones and AI to detect the next big wildfire
Ember Flash Aerospace is developing and testing an AI-powered system of sensors, cameras and drones aimed at taming California’s intensifying fire seasons, an effort that grew from regular meetings of a group of Boulder Creek residents in the aftermath of the CZU fire. Jessica M. Pasko reports.
DAILY DIGEST
There’s plenty more on tap from Lookout this first Thursday of September, not the least of which is the latest edition of Weekender, Wallace Baine’s recommendation-packed dispatch from the world of Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment. Sign up here for that and all of our other newsletters, plus breaking news alerts; also offering breaking news notifications is the Lookout Santa Cruz app, which you can download from both the Apple App Store Google Play Store. And for the social media-inclined among you, keep up with our award-winning coverage by following Lookout on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky.
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COMING SOON … With our partners at CalMatters, Lookout is hosting a screening of “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink,” a film that chronicles the damage caused by hedge fund ownership of once-proud community newspapers. The Sept. 24 event at the Del Mar Theatre in downtown Santa Cruz will be followed by a panel discussion and kicks off our fundraising efforts for Lookout’s fifth anniversary. Get your tickets and more info here.
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Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.
Will McCahill