Looking back at 2021: October-December

Welcome to the final installation of our year-end look of the top headlines in Santa Cruz County. Though the days started to get longer and the weather cooler, news in our region continued to heat up. Look below at some of the biggest issues making news in the past three months.

October 2021

October marked a month of change: Andy Mills announced he would be leaving as Santa Cruz’s police chief, the city named Matt Huffaker as its next city manager, and UC Santa Cruz’s College Ten will be now named after the civil rights icon John Lewis. In addition, several hot-button issues worked their way through local government: the proposed Cruz Hotel, the 831 Water Street development and the RV ordinance among them. Click the links with the photos below for October’s big stories.

1/ 13

READ THE STORY: Police Chief Andy Mills saying farewell to the ‘jewel’ that is Santa Cruz: ‘This is just an amazing city’
 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

2/ 13

READ THE STORY: Have you seen the big boat off Santa Cruz this week? Here’s what we know 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

3/ 13

READ THE STORY: Hearts full for an empty homes tax: Santa Cruz set to follow path of other ‘second home’ destinations 

(Kevin Painchaud/Lookout Staff)

4/ 13

READ THE STORY: ‘I’ve seen some brutal things’: Murders of Santa Cruz County women on the rise
 

(Via published obituaries and Facebook)

5/ 13

READ THE STORY: A tale of two affordable housing projects: Contentious in Santa Cruz, smooth in Watsonville 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

6/ 13

READ THE STORY: Halloween will return to downtown Santa Cruz, but not in full street party fashion 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

7/ 13

READ THE STORY: Is downtown’s first hotel in nearly a century Cruz’n into town? What we know about the hot-button project 

(Via City of Santa Cruz)

8/ 13

READ THE STORY: Santa Cruz City Council bans overnight parking for RVs, aims to create alternatives 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

9/ 13

READ THE STORY: UCSC College Ten to be named in honor of civil rights icon John R. Lewis 

(Library of Congress)

10/ 13

READ THE STORY: To mask or not to mask: Local businesses vary on policies following end of mandate 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

11/ 13

Cabrillo College 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

12/ 13

READ THE STORY: Santa Cruz City Council set to hire Watsonville’s city manager, Matt Huffaker 

(Via City of Santa Cruz)

13/ 13

READ THE STORY: Race for District 3 Supervisor heats up as Cummings joins Kalantari-Johnson in announcing candidacy 

LOOKING BACK AT 2021

As we close the book on 2021, we take a look back at the stories that made headlines in Santa Cruz County, from the effects of the pandemic and local business, education and entertainment to everyday life around the county.

• Looking back at 2021: January-March
• Looking back at 2021: April-June
• Looking back at 2021: July-September
• Looking back at 2021: October-December

November 2021

November was a good one for foodies. Owners of the Drunk Monkeys food truck announced they would be taking over the old Saturn Cafe building; drama abounded at Cafe Gratitude. Health officials (again) mandated masks, and a truly tiny home in Seabright got a $1 million offer. And, despite the concerns of neighbors and local officials countywide, a man with a sexually violent past was cleared to live in Bonny Doon. Click the links with the photos below for November’s big stories.

1/ 10

READ THE STORY: A judge OKs placement of sexually violent predator in Bonny Doon 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

2/ 10

READ THE STORY: In Saturn Cafe’s next life, it will be a Drunk Monkey — only now, ‘we can basically do whatever we want’ 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

3/ 10

READ THE STORY: Gratitude questioned: Owner, workers clash at longtime Santa Cruz vegan cafe rooted in mindfulness
 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

4/ 10

READ THE STORY: ‘It’s infuriating’: Why Santa Cruz’s earliest ADU adopters are asking where to find their perks 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

5/ 10

READ THE STORY: ‘Potential winter surge’ leads Santa Cruz County health officials to order use of masks indoors 

6/ 10

READ THE STORY: ‘A lot of full-cash offers right now’: Seabright ‘tiny home’ fetches a cool $1M amid multiple offers 

(Courtesy of Walter Stauss, Coldwell Banker Realty)

7/ 10

READ THE STORY: Triumph through tragedy: Tushar Atre’s death spurred his friends to build a unique life opportunity for kids 

8/ 10

READ THE STORY: Longtime leader of Barrios Unidos continues to work on solutions for violence, inequity
 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

9/ 10

READ THE STORY: The Nickelodeon is a local treasure trapped in limbo 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

10/ 10

READ THE STORY: State putting pressure on Santa Cruz to push forward on 831 Water Street project 

December 2021

The end of the year brought rain, a bit of flooding but a lot of hope. It marked the launch of our “Unsung Santa Cruz” series, which highlighted regular people who do amazing things. Lookout also published an in-depth piece about the inequities in professional surfing between men and women, provided context regarding our local vaccine rates, and kept readers up to date on the impacts of weather on both the housed and the unhoused. Click the links with the photos below for December’s big stories.

1/ 12

READ THE SERIES: “Unsung Santa Cruz” features Santa Cruzans like Renee Fenker who make the area a better place to live.  

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

2/ 12

Women’s surfing 121221 

(Courtesy Boots McGhee)

3/ 12

READ THE STORY: Cabrillo vice president is charged with embezzlement, misappropriation of funds from former job
 

(Via Cabrillo College)

4/ 12

READ THE STORY: Santa Cruz surfer Nat Young scratches back onto the world tour in honor of his mom 

(Via Nat Young’s Instagram)

5/ 12

READ THE STORY: UCSC announces remote instruction for first two weeks of winter 2022 quarter
 

(UC Santa Cruz)

6/ 12

READ THE COLUMN: Forget about keeping Santa Cruz weird; have we lost our once-notorious edge entirely? 

7/ 12

READ THE STORY: Rain causes over 18,000 to lose power; evac warning in San Lorenzo Valley 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

8/ 12

READ THE STORY: Omicron in Santa Cruz: First two cases of variant identified in residents in their mid-20s 

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

9/ 12

READ THE STORY: Santa Cruz reverses course, votes to move forward on first SB 35 development with 831 Water Street 

(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)

10/ 12

READ THE STORY: Is Santa Cruz’s reported vaccine rate inaccurately low? It just might be because of this UCSC-related quirk 

11/ 12

READ THE STORY: Watsonville Community Hospital reaches preliminary agreement for sale to avoid closure 

(Nick Ibarra / Lookout Santa Cruz)

12/ 12

READ THE STORY: Greenway submits signatures for proposed initiative on use of rail line  

(Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission )